Dreams Bathed In Blood
by Vampy Sparda
Summary: (OC Warning.) Girl has birthday. Girl gets ring. Girl gets sucked into a very violent video game world full of chaos, demons, and a certain hunter with a very large ego. They really should put more warnings on jewelry, don't you think?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One - "If I Was A Giant Lava-Spider, I'd Step On YOU!"  
  
"Damn you, stupid Phantom!" I screamed, irritated at that seemingly immortal lava-spider, "Why can't you be a good boy and die!" I mashed the buttons until I thought my bones would pop right through the skin. I was having such a tough time killing that stupid boss on the game called Devil May Cry, in which you are a demon-hunter who, well, hunts demons obviously.  
  
It was my 16th birthday, and my parents had bought me this game. I was so happy I couldn't wait to try it out, and I said my thanks as I raced down to where my beloved PS2 was housed. I popped in the disc without a second thought and immediately submersed myself into this fantastic new world. My only other present I had gotten was a so called 'demon's blood' ring, which supposedly made your heart's only wish come true while wearing it. Sounds pretty cheesy doesn't it? Well, being the superstitious girl I am, I tried it on and was immediately awed by its pure crystalline beauty. Its was a deep maroon, like the color of freshly spilled blood. I suppose that's where they got the name. I decided I never wanted to take it off, because, one, I could show it off at school, and two, it might just give me a little good luck. Well, it didn't seem to work very nicely in combination with very large spiders made out of lava and rock.   
  
  
  
"How am I ever gonna beat this stupid thing!" I would always yell, after finding out another of my "flawless strageties" had failed me again. "I swear, if only I could step on YOU like an ant!" I would insult the pixelated evil, like it was actually listening to me. And it seemed everytime I insulted it, it would get harder to even slightly hurt, so for a second I thought it actually could hear me. I know, just a pinch of paranoia, but I still thought about it.  
  
And to add to the cream of the crop, I would actually have dreams about DMC. I would dream about kicking some spider ass, being a half-blooded demon, being a swordsman, (well, swordswoman in my case) and hanging out with my main man, Dante. But the thing that always seemed freaky to me was that in all of my dreams, the characters seemed to actually recognize me. Like we were best friends or something. Except for the bosses, ya know, 'cause they sorta wanted my head served on a platter, and it's a bit tough to be best friends with someone like that.   
  
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Woo! Hello people of Fanfiction.net! (I'm really bad at this author's note thing, so sue me.) Anyways, this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic, and hopefully people will like it. (Yeah, right... o_O) Since this is a DMC fanfic, I guess I need to add that I don't own Dante or any of the other DMC characters that show up in the game, or the enemies, (Shadows, Blades, stuff like that.) I do however own Xyphos, and I guess Maria and Alca.. (even though they're based on my friends.) So, I hope you guys enjoy the story! Please review if you have the time! ^_^ 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two - Oh Bloody Hell  
  
"I'll step on you like an ant! Hahahahahah!" the hellish spider screamed at Dante, while he stood there in calm composture. BOOM. The lava-spider excreates a ball of fire out of its mouth straight at him. Dante leaps out of the way, not a bit surprised and turns to face one of Hell's top generals. As he swings out his favored pistols, Ebony and Ivory, he readies to shoot, but not before a burning sensation is felt under his booted feet. Without even looking down, he leaps high into the air just as a fiery surge of magma explodes out from where he stood a minute ago. As he decends, expertly Dante shoots a wave of lead bullets into the Phantom's big, spidery face. In response, the Phantom unfurls a giagantic scorpion tail out of its abdomen, and raises it into the air with amazing speed. As cool as ice, Dante again jumps higher and faster than a normal human could, straight onto the unprotected back of the spider.   
  
But unbeknownest to Dante, the clever arachnid had seen that move coming. More fluid than one would have expected, the weapon of a tail cut through the air, straight through the body of the demon-hunter. Taken by surprise, he rolled off of the spider onto the ground, and slowly died soaking in his own red blood.  
  
  
  
"God! Not AGAIN!" I screeched, so close to feeling red-hot steam coming out of my ears. "That's it, I've had it!" I said, throwing the controller down with all of the strength I had in me. I heard a sharp, cracking sound but I didn't care. As I marched up the stairs towards the upper level of my house, I turned one last time at the screen and taunted the game once again. "I swear to God, if I was inside of that world of yours Phantom, I would so kick your ass! I wish I could, just to see that DAMN look on your face!" SPLAT. KABOOM. NOISES THAT ARE MADE WHEN THINGS HIT OTHER THINGS. It hit me. It hit me like, well.... nothing in particular, but it hit me like something very large and heavy. And painful.  
  
As I wondered where this pain was originating from, I looked around me. 'Ok, too much white-out sniffing for me,' I thought, as I saw the world around me drip, literally drip, like someone throwing water onto a newly made painting. It dissipated into a huge pit of darkness below me, and I was surrounded by unfamiliar noises. I got terrified, for once in my life, completely and utterly terrified. My body finally hit something hard, but I was already unconcious from the fright I had gotten from my oil painting of-a-world.  
  
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Weee.... it's me again! o_O Anywhos, sorry for these ultra-short chapters. I promise the next ones will be a lot longer! ^_^ I hope you guys are enjoying the story. Please review! (I need the self-esteem boost anyways.. @_@)  
  
Xyphos : Lemme say it! Lemme say it!  
  
Vampy : Fine, say it already!  
  
Xyphos : *Ahem* I belong to the one and only Vampy Sparda. Maria and Alca belong to their respectible selves... since they're based on real people. ^_^  
  
Vampy : -_-' Anyways, have fun reading! (As if they would.. o_O) 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - Should've Packed a Toothbrush  
  
Whiirrrr. Whirrrr. I could hear a constant whirring sound, like the sound of a refridgerator. Eventually I opened my tired eyes and sat up, much to the painful complaints of my tired muscles.   
  
"Damn, that hurt...." I said as I rubbed my head slowly. I looked down at the floor. Cold stone. 'Of course, I had to land on stone when theres comfy grass 3 inches away!' I thought angrily to myself. I looked over to my immediate left, and saw a huge, rapidly spinning purple-reddish orb hovering several inches over the ground. "Okay.... that's not good. I hope that overgrown Easter egg is not what I think it is..." I said as I eyed it wearily. I eventually found the strength to stand and looked around me, ignoring the orb for now. I found myself in a huge round outside room, with stony misshapen pillars holding up a walkway above me that circled the room. When I looked up, I saw a darkened sky and dark black clouds lazily drifting along. Spotted everywhere were patches of grass, and a huge fountain in the exact middle of the room, playfully spurting crystal clear water every whichway, which, thankfully, I had landed a couple of feet away from.   
  
The fountain gave a cheery noise of water flowing, as the orb near me kept spinning, oblivious to my existence. As I started over to the orb to observe it, I suddenly tripped. Poor, stupid, clumsy me. How the hell do you not see a big metal implement on the ground! I looked down, and saw a huge sharp sword, with two carved black wings sprouting from its hilt. It gleamed eerily at me from what little sunshine came through the clouds. I touched the hilt, only to find it warm. The rest of the sword was a bright metallic silver, with no other markings noticeable. The blade of it seemed to be protruding from what looked like a dragon's mouth, teeth and all. I was a very ornament for a hilt out of all the swords I had seen. The only other noticeable thing was the dragon's eye, which had a large jewel inserted, a bright red jewel that practically matched my ring's color.   
  
"I musta have fallen on top of this... but where the hell did it come from?!" I said outloud, as if I would recieve an answer. I tried to pick it up, and found I could easily lift it with even one hand. Very surprising for someone who doesn't even work out! But these events had confused me a lot. I mean, where could the sword have orignated from? And why was it so light and easy to handle? I found also that I had a sword belt strapped over my shoulder, so I decided to keep the sword, and immediately placed it in the belt. I suddenly felt very safe and powerful, with it's comforting presence protecting my back.   
  
'Hmmm..... what to do next?' I wondered as I looked up to gaze at the fountain. My eyes immediately froze on a huge red dot near the top of the fountain, blood-red in color with a eerie face ectched into its surface. I decided to give it a look, because of my curiosity. I tried to climb, thought better of it, and leaped only to find that I could land on top of the fountain without much effort.   
  
"Holy crap! That was so awesome!" I said excitedly as I began jumping up and down in excitement. And to my surprise and stupidity, my head hit the red orb which had been of course, floating a few feet above the top of the fountain, and I, along with the orb, fell to the ground in a tangled mess. I stared at the orb, ignoring the fact that I had obtained no injuries.  
  
I finally figured out what had happened. It hit me like, well, like when I hit the red orb with my head. I was dreaming. Yeah, that had to be it. I knew it had to be. So, thinking this, I stuck the orb in my bag, which was attached to a belt I had on, even thought I hadn't been wearing one at the last time I remembered. But then I noticed my whole outfit had changed! And quite spiffy it was too. I was at that moment, wearing a black shirt, with matching black jeans, a belt with some kind of dragon face for the buckle, and a very snazy red overcoat. I practically looked like a girl version of Dante. I spinned around like a overactive teenage cheerleader who just bought a new outfit.   
  
"Damn, I am just too cool for school!" I said, admiring my tight new wardrobe.  
  
Taking a time-out from awing at my new awesome fashion sense, I walked over to the spinning purple-red orb. I heard a squelching sound, like when someone squeezes a slug. The orb suddenly became very dark, and melted its shape into a large black puddle. From this puddle, the shape of a panther-like creature emerged.   
  
"A Shadow..." I thought, as I FINALLY figured out what was going on. Pretty slow, arn't I? I was having a dream that I was in the DMC world! Looks like I had a battle on my hands, and I had roasted big-black-panthery-cat-shadow-thing on my menu. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four - Soon I'm Gonna Be A Jedi  
  
  
  
SWOOSH. SPLAT. KABOOM. In a flash, the Shadow disappeared into a big pile of burbling hot black liquid.   
  
"Damn, I wanted to kill it," I whined miserably. But when I looked up to see what had killed it, a stepped back a little bit. In it's place was a sky-blue falcon, but with a human shape. So, in other words, it looked like a human covered in feathers with two magnificent black, feathery wings sprouting froms its back.   
  
"What the..." I immediately blurted out, awed by its beauty. It seemed to actually give off its own light, and looked like a angel in perfect form. It made a soft humming noise, sweet and melodic to the ears. I stared into its hawk-like eyes. They were a eerie bluish-green, and were like endless pools of water. I immediately recognized those eyes......   
  
"No way! Alcapacien!? It... can't be!" I said without thinking, but to my surprise, the strange creature shook its head. With a blinding flash of light, I saw the creature change its shape into that of my best friend, Alcapacien. She had been my best friend at my school for many years.  
  
She was always sought out by the boys, with her own sense of beauty. She had greenish-blue eyes, a slim, tall body, and long, brown, flowing hair. Many people said we look pretty much alike, except for the fact that I had black hair instead of brown, and purple eyes instead of green.  
  
"Dang, this hasta be a dream." I said to her as she walked over to me.   
  
"Looking as gothic as usual, I see?" she responded sarcasticaly, ignoring my last comment.  
  
"Heh, you know me, gotta love them red and blacks." I said and winked. "I didn't expect you to be in my dream too, though." I said softly to myself, but she heard it.   
  
"What dream?" she asked quizzically.   
  
"Uhh... the one I'm having right now."   
  
"Your not dreaming." she said, in a unusually serious tone.  
  
"Yeah right I'm not."   
  
"Your not."  
  
"Prove it," I challenged her.  
  
"Fine," she snapped back, and speedily pulled out a sleek katana out of a sheath on her back. Granted, I was pretty damn surprised since she had no record of being violent, or fast. Hastily, she slashed at me with amazing power, which sent me flying back several yards. I immediately felt a white lash of pain across my shoulders, and felt warm blood seep down into my shirt.   
  
"Some friend you are," I said as I grabbed onto my wound. "Wait a sec..... arn't dreams supposed to not hurt? Ooooh crap." I said with immediate fear, like I had felt before. I got up as I felt my gash slowly heal as the skin recovered itself rapidly and the blood went back into my chest. I guess at that moment I had ignored the fact that my body has just regenerated itself. "Ok, so this isn't a dream. So how exactly did we get here?" I asked, curious to know the knowledge she offered. "And how come you can transform into a demon?" She walked past me and gazed into the waters of the fountain.   
  
"Well, I think it has something to do with that ring of yours, and for your second question, I dunno. When I woke up since I had fallen into a state of unconciousness, I found myself in that demon form, inside a library filled to the brim with books. So, I did a little light reading, and found some information about our situation. Then I heard some shouts, which I immediately recognized as yours, and flew off to your rescue." she answered back, taking a break to breathe a little.  
  
"Okay then. Rrright. So let me just soak all this in... hey, wait a sec! Playing the hero again I see? Too many fantasy books for you. Anyways, its all got something to do with this ring, huh?" I said as I felt my eyes slide their gaze towards the ring I always wore on my right hand. The 'demon's blood' ring. "I know what happened!" I screamed all of a sudden, surprising my friend.  
  
"What happened?" she answered, curious to know what I had discovered.  
  
"I remember a while ago, I was playing that game, ya know? Devil May Cry. Remember, the one I was so eager to show you? Well, I was battling this big spider-thing, also called the Phantom, and said 'I wish I was in there so I could kick your spider-ass,' or something like that, and BOOM! I was unconsious."   
  
She nodded.  
  
"It all makes perfect sense. I read the guide for that game, 'cause you let me borrow it, remember? That's why I can change into a demon. We must be half-blooded or something like that. Just like Dante. And ya know what? I betcha you can change too." she replied coolly.   
  
"Well, lets hope so. After seeing that Shadow, I could say we might need that ability pretty badly. So, what are we gonna do next, oh-so-wise Obi Wan? Your the expert here." I replied, prying at her annoyance, which was fun as hell to unleash.  
  
"You were the one playing the game, and beating it I might add. And that also read the whole guide in 10 minutes. You lead the way. And don't make fun of my love of Star Wars again." she said and grinned evilly.  
  
"I can't promise anything, but ya, I'll play leader for now, Obi Wan," I said and grinned back. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - Dantelicious  
  
As we readied to to adventure through this new worlds of ours, I turned to her.   
  
"We're in the DMC world, right? So what if we see another monster?" I asked her.   
  
"It's obvious isn't it? I guess we'll have to kill it." I sighed at the thought.  
  
"Crap. That's what I thought. But it gets ya to wondering.... what happens if we die?"   
  
"Well, I don't think we have to worry too much about that," she said as she opened a pouch at her side and pulled out a fabously bright yellow orb. I laughed at her genius.   
  
"Damn, your on top of everything today! I'll make sure I try not to die. Oh man, if I see that Phantom, I'm gonna beat his arse." I said and laughed manically. She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You scare me sometimes. A lot of the time actually." she said and laughed.   
  
"Well, we better get going. I've finished this game on easy mode. I know exactly where we are. We can either go to where Alastor is, or we can backtrack to the entrance to the castle. The entrance is probably closed off, so might as well go visit our friend, Alastor." I said with a snicker. "Damn, my parents are gonna get a big hug when I get back home." I continued as I exploded with happiness inside because of the adventure we were about to embark on. "For once, something more exciting than playing video games!"  
  
"Alrighty then, let's go visit Alastor," she said as we left the fountain room where I had first landed when I came to this world. We walked down the long corridor with the red carpets on the floor and the mechanholy walls. "Sure is gothic here.... I fit in pretty well!" I said brightly as we traversed the hallway. THUD. I tripped. I lifted my head and sighed. "God, that's the second time today!" I said as I got up and Alcapacien looked behind me with a touch of surprise.   
  
"Uhm... Xyphos? I think you'd better come look at this." she said as she walked past me and studied the ground. I turned to see what she was look at with so much interest. It was a huge, wooden-looking leg sticking out from the wall. On closer inspection, we could see that it was attached to a huge, blood-red body. It looked like a deadly puppet, and in each hand there was a huge blade.   
  
"Aw crap." Alcapacien muttered. "A marionette." As it's name was spoken, the puppet brought itself to its feet and got into a battle-ready pose.  
  
  
  
"Uhm... Do you wanna fight and get some red orbs, or run away and not get hurt?" I asked Alcapacien calmly.   
  
"Nah, it doesn't look that tough, I can take it out myself." she replied with dignity.   
  
"Fine, have it your way." I said and stepped back. I yawned.  
  
As I opened my eyes again, I heard a soft thud.   
  
"Finished?" I muttered sleepily.   
  
"Yep, and while you were yawning, I gots me some red orbs." she said, without a trace of fatigue in her voice.   
  
"Damn, I knew I should've stayed awake so I coulda stolen it." I said with a faint laugh. "Well, enough child's play, lets get on with it." I said as I turned to continue walking.   
  
"Child's play? Heh, that's pretty funny. 'Cause you know that movie... with the doll... that kills people... and... yeah." she said as she walked up beside me.   
  
"Actually, that is pretty funny, and I didn't even mean it that way." I said, and we both burst out laughing. It wasn't really that funny. But I guess we were just happy to be doing something exciting together for once.  
  
Well, eventually we got to the room where Alastor was held. Not room really, it was just the end of the hall. We looked up at where it should have been sticking out of the wall like a giant splinter. But it was gone. Where a statue of a woman in agony should have been, a picture of a skeleton holding knives and heads was dipicted. "The judge of death....." I said faintly. "But Alastor's gone. Does that mean... that... HE'S here?!" I screamed with held-in joy. The thing is, you see, I practically, hell not even practically, I did worship the hero of Devil May Cry, Dante. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap...." I muttered over and over. Alcapacien looked at me and smiled.   
  
"Whoa, calm down girl. I guess your greatest fantasy may have come true. Well, if HE is here, he has Alastor, so he can't be far. I mean, look, there's still fresh blood on the floor from where it hit him. Should we go looking for him?" she said and smiled an evil grin towards me.   
  
"Hehheh," I laughed evilly, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked her joyfully.   
  
"I'm sure I am," she replied, "So lets get this party started!" We ran towards the nearest door, which had a key in it ready to be turned.  
  
I cautiously open the door. I heard some shouts and a low rumbling.   
  
"Yay, earthquake!" I whispered to Alcapacien.   
  
"Why are you whispering?" she asked me quietly.   
  
"I think there might be something in here." I replied and peeped my head inside. I recognized the room immediately. It was the room where he had first met the Phantom, and defeated it. "Oh shit...." I cursed outloud as I finally saw it. That damn, bloody spider. It was talking to something angrily. I looked at where the spider was putting its cold gaze. Then I saw him. In all of his red danteliciousness. He was staring up at the spider, ready for the fight. He looked behind himself for a quick second. Straight towards me. I quickly pulled my head out and shut the door.   
  
"What happened?" Alcapacien asked me worridly.   
  
"H...he's in there! With the Phantom! And he looked at me! With his eyes! THAT ARE IN HIS HEAD! WHICH IS ATTACHED TO HIS BODY! Oh my god, gonna die." I said as I felt my heart melt.   
  
Yeah, call it a childish, immature crush, but I'll just bash your face in with a pan for denying him his greatness, you stupid bastards. Alcapacien looked at me and laughed loudly.   
  
"My god, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen! But yeah, it is pretty cool to see a fictional character you think is hot in real life," she said, mocking me. I stopped getting excited, and got a sly grin on my face.   
  
"Must I remind you about Legolas?" I asked evilly. She quickly covered my mouth with a hand.   
  
"If you ever mention that to ANYONE, I'll cut off your tongue and shove it somewhere unpleasant." she said with a serious tone.   
  
"Ok, ok, calm down. But don't make fun of me anymore." I said as she removed her hand from my mouth.   
  
"Deal." she replied.  
  
"Soooo, what did ya see in there?" she asked me as a few moments passed as we listened to the rumbling and crushing sounds from within the room.   
  
"I saw Dante, and that stupid Phantom." I replied happily. "We must be at that part in the game where he's trying to get the Pride of Lion, and battles the Phantom the first time. This proves it. I'm not dreaming." I said as I sighed. "But, I guess jewelry is good for something." I smiled happily at my birthday gift. 'I'm the happiest person alive right now,' I thought inwardly as we listened to the continued noises. I wanted to help him so badly, but what would he do if he saw us? Think us friends, or demons in disguise? 'God, I hope this ends soon,' I continued to think.  
  
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Hello again! Yes, it is me, the lovely author of this crap no one reads. o_O Anywhos, I don't see the point, but I may as well add that for that last chapter, I don't own Star Wars. (Obviously) For this chappie I don't own Lord of The Rings. (Obviously again) Believe me, this story will get better... hopefully.. *sobs* Please review! I need more self-esteem! ^_^ And yes, for you random others, I am completely and utterly obsessed with Dante.. *sigh* 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six - The White-Haired Hunter and The Birds of Prey  
  
Eventually, the noises stopped. We heard a ridulously loud screech, and then nothing.   
  
"Oh boy, I think the Phantom just left the scene," I said to Alcapacien. She just stood there.   
  
"When you peeked your head in, did he see you?" she asked me suspiously.   
  
"Well.... yeah, I think so," I answered a bit quietly.   
  
"I see," was all she said back. I started thinking again. Man, and I hated when I did that.  
  
"What do you think he'll do when he meets us? Won't he just be a bit suspious that two teenage girls are in a big, spooky castle in the middle of nowhere?" I asked Alcapacien. She just shrugged.   
  
"Who knows," she answered back, "I've never met a video game character before." I hit my head with my gloved hand.   
  
"Oh boy, this is gonna be a bit complicated. It's obvious we can't just avoid him. But how are we gonna explain why we're here?" I doubted our situation. Alcapacien answered slowly.  
  
"Well, we could just say we're here to do what he's here to do, right? I mean, he's here on a mission, we have the perfect storyline here, we could say we're after Mundus or something..."  
  
"Well, maybe," I answered, "I mean, how many girls do you see that can turn into demons and hang out in big castles? But, what if he thinks we're the enemy?" I asked, just a tad nervous at the silence coming out of the door next to me. My partner turned to me, looking a bit grim.   
  
"Well, we could fight him..." I gasped at this. "... or we could run away."   
  
'Damn,' I cursed inwardly, 'I didn't come through all this pain to just run away from my favorite non-real person in the universe! No, there has to be something we can do....' I thought again.   
  
My thoughts were abruptly cut off when we heard loud footsteps echoing in the Pride of Lion room. They diminished, then we heard them leave completely as a door slammed.   
  
'Whew,' I thought, and wiped my forehead. "Now, what are we going to do?" I asked again.   
  
"Well, what we were about to do, we follow him. That's what you want, isn't it?" I nodded. "Okay then, what else are we gonna do? All there is to do is kill stuff, and I don't want to waste my energy if I'm gonna need it later. Remember : Boss battles."  
  
"Alright, let's get moving." So we uh... got moving. We entered the Pride of Lion room when we thought it was safe enough. Not to our surprise, there was a huge molten hole in the middle of the floor where the Phantom must have "made his exit". I sighed. 'Well, at least we won't have to fight it. I bet we won't be seeing him for a whil...... OH CRAP!' I thought as the floor started shaking violently. And as fate would have it, here comes Mr. Big-Molten-Lava-Spider-Thingie through the wall. Yes through it, because he sorta destroyed it. And was coming straight towards us. With a lone black figure running in front of him. I looked over at my comrade.   
  
"They wouldn't happen to be... uh.. running straight at us, would they?" I asked, a bit too calmly. Alcapacien looked at me wierdly.   
  
"Why yes, indeed they are," she said in her most 'I'm so smart' voice.   
  
"Uhm.... what should I say? How about ... CRAP!" I said to her.   
  
"Ya sorta might want to get outta the way!" a voice called to us.   
  
"Oh crap, crap, crap crap, I know that wasn't him talking to us! ARGH! WILL I EVER BE FREE! WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME!" I yelled really loudly. The spider stopped for a second and started -- what I thought was -- laughing. "Oh GOD NO! THAT SPIDER IS NOT LAUGHING AT ME! OH NO OH NO OH NO! URGE....TO KILL.... RISING!" FLASH! BOOM! WIND RUSING! FWOOSH! I had transformed. Finally. Into my devil counterpart. And that means fun for me. I spread my new wings out. I noticed I looked just like Alcapacien did when she was a demon, but I was a dark purple whilst she was a light blue. So, in my anger, I ran towards the giant spider. Straight for its face. And out I swung my new sword, and seconds later, it was covered with lava.   
  
"STUPID SPIDER STUPID SPIDER!" I kept on yelling while I kept slashing at its face. Eventually I slowed down. I heard a very loud roaring, and felt a gust of wind in my face as again, the Phantom left the room in a hurry through the same hole.   
  
"Holy crap!" I heard a voice say as I transformed back into a human. I turned my head. There he was again, the red-clad devil hunter, Dante. I fell over with a thud.   
  
"Uh... hi." I said while looking up at the ceiling. Alcapacien came over and together her and Dante looked down towards me.   
  
"Uh... is she alright?" he asked Alcapacien.   
  
"Don't worry," she replied back, "She's just starstruck, don't worry about it."   
  
"So anyways," he continued, "What are two babes like you doing in a place like this?" I grunted.   
  
"We're uh... looking for uh... Mundus, yeah that's it." I replied. He gave me a wierd look.  
  
"I thought this was a solo job for me? You guys look too dainty anyways." Alcapacien's eyes flared. She looked towards him with a frown.   
  
"Ok look here Mr. High-and-Mighty devil hunter! We're here to kill stuff, and by God we're going to! I don't care if you like us or not, we have the urge to kill, and it must be quenched!" she said to him in a furious tone. He gave her the weirdest looking smile.   
  
"Alright, down girl. I understand. Gotta quench those demon urges eh? Alright then. So... you guys wanna come with me?" He sounded like he was pleading. My heart beat a bit faster.  
  
"Uh... I'd.. I mean we'd love to! Anyways, you probably gonna need some help with the Phantom right?" I smirked. Dante whispered to Alcapacien.  
  
"How'd she know his name?" he asked. Alcapacien just shrugged.  
  
"Before we go, could you two stand next to each other for a minute?" Alcapacien asked us. I gave her a skeptical look.   
  
"Yeah... but exactly what are you up to?" I answered.  
  
"Just do it!" she snapped back. I stepped next to Dante. She started looking us over. "I knew it! That's very freaky." she said after a few minutes had passed.  
  
"What?" Dante asked quickly.  
  
"Well.... how can I put this? You two look almost exactly alike. Look at yourselves. Both have pratically the same outift, you both have icy-looking eyes, and about the same sword."   
  
"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "Your right! Pretty cool. Heh, I always knew I had good fashion sense."   
  
"But you copied my outfit! Wouldn't that make me the one with fashion sense?" Dante answered back.  
  
"Uh... yeah I guess." I stuttered. "Of course! I mean... how could I have better fashion sense? Heh..heh." I laughed, a bit too nervously. He seemed a bit worried. Probably of my sanity.  
  
"Uh.... right. Anyways, we better get moving before the Phantom gets back." he replied.  
  
"Yep, your right. Of course your right! LET'S GO!" I yelled. Dante and Alcapacien looked at each other then gave me a wierd look. They both shrugged and started moving towards the door.  
  
"Wait up you guys!" I said as we neared the exit of the Pride of Lion room. (Yup, we're still there.)  
  
"What's up?" Alcapacien said as she turned.   
  
"I think I know where we are and what's ahead. Just give me a sec to go through the map in my head." Dante gave me a wierd look.   
  
"Have you been here before?" he asked, a bit confused. I laughed nervously.   
  
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I looked up at the ceiling for a minute. "Alright, I've remembered. I'll explain our situation. We're in the Pride of Lion room. Up ahead in that door --" I pointed to the corrisponding door "-- is a bridge which we have to cross. We read the inscription over the bridge, cross back, and go back through the Alastor hallway. While walking down, the Phantom will chase us to the end of the hall--" Dante interrupted my speech.   
  
"I've already done all of that."   
  
"Oh," I replied, "Ok, then, we'll skip that part. Next we go back to the fountain area.." I paused as I thought about when I had first woken up there, and continued speaking "... and we use the Pride of Lion on the statue there. Then we kill the Shadow that attacks us, and I can continue this when we get that far." I looked down from the ceiling to their faces. Alcapacien looked smug as both her and me looked at Dante. He looked utterly stunned.   
  
"How'd you know all of this?" he asked, a bit skeptical of my conclusion.   
  
"Well.... lets just say I'm a 'precog' in a sense." I said and smiled up at him. He shrugged.  
  
"Fine, we don't really have any other choice but to follow you anyways."   
  
We started walking towards the fountain room. Dante suddenly spoke up as we neared the door.   
  
"I forgot to ask... I never got your names."   
  
"Oh yeah... sorry. Well, I'm Xyphos and this is Alcapacien." I replied. He held out his hand.  
  
"I'm Dante, demon-hunter extrodinare." I snickered at this.   
  
"Yeah... we sorta knew that. *CoughSomeoneHasALargeEgoCough*" He spoke again while giving me a 'I heard that' look.  
  
"I forgot to ask this too.... how did you guys know my name? And why are you here?" he asked. I had been afraid of this. Dammit all.   
  
"Well.... this is sorta a bad time. How about I promise that we tell you later." He looked at me skeptically.   
  
"Tck... fine. But you'll have to explain yourselves eventually." I nodded.   
  
"Alright, I promise. Anyways, lets move on." We slowly walked down the hallway. All I could hear was our footsteps, and I can tell ya, it was pretty unnerving for me. I knew that the Phantom was about to pop out and chase us any second. I wondered if we were ready to face it. Or if the fear would overtake us. Or just me. I had a strong dread in my heart, and I didn't know what it was dreading. But I decided to be a little more cautious as we moved on. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven - Meeting of the Black Angels  
  
"Well, here we are." I said as we reached the door to the fountain area. I looked up and down along the wall, still cautious that the Phantom was waiting for a sign of weakness to attack. I put the key in the lock, (I had had this key in my pocket for some reason, I found out while in the POL room) and slowly turned it. Then I felt it, distant rumbling. The door had been the trigger for the trap. Dante and Alca looked around suspiously, and I heaved the door open and shoved them inside the fountain room.   
  
"Hey... what was that for?" Alca whined at me.   
  
"That Phantom..." I said breathing out my fear in short ragged breaths, "He was coming back." Dante only shrugged.   
  
"Oh please.. we could've taken him. Or at least I could have." He did it again. Hit another trigger on Alcapacien.  
  
"Alright.. that's it! Your getting on my nerves Dante! Stop trying to act all cool just because a pair of teenage girls are as strong as you!" she yelled at him. I could see he was about to make a comeback, but I butt it.  
  
"Come on guys, this is not the time or place!" I pointed to the lion statue that was under a porch-looking thing directly across from us. I could see the blue shimmering forcefield that covered the lion. "We still have to get past here, beat the Shadow, and go kill Vir--" then it hit me. Hadn't Mundus had said that Nelo Angelo was Virgil, Dante's brother? I wonder how Dante would react in this realistic world. In the game, he didn't seem to recognize him, but I was afraid if Dante found out I knew all about him, he might freak out a bit. So I cut myself off, even if it may have been a bit too late. "A...anyways, we need to hurry up! Arguing won't get us anywhere!" Dante eyed me cautiously.  
  
"Yeah... she's right. Let's call it a truce," he said to Alcapacien, and muttered under his breath, "for now."  
  
We started towards the statue when we heard some noises. Loud noises. (We seem to hear a lot, don't we?) It was coming from the walkway above the area we were in. It sounded like someone whining... it was really familiar to me.   
  
"Argh! First being chased by my CAT, and now being thrown into some crazy place filled with friggin' walking PUPPETS! What the hell is wrong with me these days.." I heard a voice say. Me and Alca looked at each other and sighed.   
  
"Oh boy.... it's Maria," we said in usion. Dante looked around confused.   
  
"Who?" he said to us.   
  
"Oh... well.... she's sorta of a friend of ours. But a little bit of a blond..." I tried to explain but the voice interrupted me.   
  
"HEY! I heard that!" the voice yelled as we saw a head peek over the edge of the walkway.   
  
"Well hello up there!" Alca yelled up towards Maria. "Get down here!" And with that, Maria hopped clear over the edge of the walkway right next to me. Then she fell over. I sighed.   
  
"God, you have black hair but you act like such a blond. Its kinda sad, in a funny way." I said and evilly grinned. Maria was pretty tall for her age, had black hair, green eyes that seemed to glow, tall and slim. I heard the guys always talking about how cute she was. But sadly, we were the only ones who knew about her blondness. I guessed it was for the best.  
  
"So, what are you guys doing here? And where, in fact, are we?" Maria asked. She seemed a bit too calm. Wierd. Me and Alca looked at each other and nodded. I grabbed Maria and dragged her into a corner in the room and told her all about us being in the game, my ring, and where we were. She again, was a bit too calm. "Heh.. cool. So we're in a game?" she asked.   
  
"Shhh.... don't let him -- " I pointed to Dante "-- hear you. He is sorta not real after all." I answered.   
  
"Okay, gotcha," she whispered back and we went back over to my other two companions.   
  
"Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? Maria, meet Dante. Dante, meet Maria. Ta-da. Your introduced. Now can we get on with it?" Alca replied irritably. Dante and Maria shook hand and mumbled greetings.  
  
  
  
"Alright let's see. Now that that's done, time to get moving. We need to use the Pride of Lion on the blue-purplish wall thingie." As I finished Dante walked over to the barrier and held the POL in front of him. A little bright white beam shot out and sliced it's way through the barrier. It then dissappeared. Then, came the growling noises. "Oh yeah... did I mention Shadows are going to come out and attack us?" I said and yawned.   
  
"What? Shadows?! Shouldn't we be a bit worried?" Maria asked, her calmness fading rapidly. "Of course not. We'll let Mr. High-and-Mighty kill them all since we're so weak and helpless." Alca said and rolled her eyes.   
  
After a few minutes, (While me, Alca, and Maria were talking about what to do next) we heard a explosion and a soft thump! of the Red Orbs coming out.   
  
"Done yet?" Maria called out  
  
"Heh...more then done." Dante said as he collected the Red Orbs. We got together again and moved on by jumping easily up to the porch-like thing near the lion statue after I gave it a few swipes of my sword to release the lock. We all entered into a old Victorian-looking room, with a red-clad bed with molding draperies and odd, twisted tables scattered about. Beside the door was a statue of a woman's head with her mouth containing a yellow orb, and across from us two double doors, and a huge mirror. We all stumbled in and looked around.   
  
"Did someone forget to call the housemaid?" Maria said, not even trying to be funny. "Heh... nice mirror. Hey... guys! Look at this!" Me and Alca crowded behind Maria to look closer at the statue while Dante walked over and sat on the bed, crossing his legs and flicking his foot in that annoying bored posture. As we looked, we saw that in the woman's mouth was a yellowish glowing ball and below the head was a slit.  
  
  
  
"Hey... whats that for --oof!" she said, as of course, she tripped. But her clumsyness helped us for once.   
  
"Lookies!" I cried (while hearing Dante mumble 'Lookies'?) "Its a sword. Oooo yeah, forgot about this. The 'Sword of Judgement'!" I said as I picked up the sword and crammed it into the slot. The statue's mouth immediately opened and the ball fell out. Immediately, the mirror to our direct left turned milky-white and the reflections on it started swirling faster and faster.  
  
"Uhh.... did I fail to mention that a big demony-guy is going to come out of the mirror and attack us too?" I said as we all watched the mirror swirling.   
  
"Well, Xyphos," Alca stated sarcastically, "I believe you did fail to mention that BEFORE you stuck the big sword into the slot." Dante then finally got off the bed and walked in front of the mirror, just as, to our surprise, another Dante came out of the mirror. I could see that my friends were sorta shocked, but thankfully I knew what was going on. Dante suddenly spoke up while we looked from one of them to the other. Well, our Dante spoke up.   
  
"Well.... what do we have here? I didn't expect to see actually see someone with some guts..." He said while the other Dante was encompassed in blue flames and changed his form into that of Nelo Angel, or 'the black angel'. I could sorta see why they called him that. He was at least a foot taller then Dante, wore some kind of armor with glowing ancient runes of some sort flowing throughout his body. What I knew was a mask was on his head, which looked like a demonic-looking face with large horns twirling out of it.  
  
  
  
"Whoa," Maria spoke up, "Uh...Xyphos? Who would that big blue guy be?" she said, almost tenderly.   
  
"That would be Nelo Angelo, or for some others of us...." I said as I turned to look at Dante's back, "It would be our brother, Virgil." I immediately saw Dante's back tense up, and saw a expression of shock on his face in his reflection on the mirror. Alca poked me in the back.   
  
"Are you sure... it was a good idea to say that? Dante looks a bit.... occupied with his thoughts now." I could hear the stinge of nervousness in her voice. Maria was busy with her thoughts.   
  
"Oooooh, Virgil! I felt so bad for him, being controlled by Mundus like that...." she said as she surprised me and Alca with her knowledge of anything that had to do with DMC. Thankfully, Dante finally spoke up. I hoped he had gotten over his shock, if that's what I had seen.   
  
"Well, even so, your still a lowly puppet. I'll help put you out of your misery." he said as he unsheathed Alastor with demon speed. He was about to make a swift downwards stroke when Maria surprised us all.  
  
  
  
She jumped in front of Nelo Angelo, yelling, "No, don't! It's not his fault!" Dante hardly had the time to stop, even with his enhanced abilities. "Get out of the way, girl!" he snarled as he strode towards her to push Maria away from the battle. Me and Alca could only stand there shocked. Nelo seemed to see a moment of weakness, and grabbed Maria around the waist. He quickly kicked the doors open that led outside, and jumped out of sight of us.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Oh no! Maria's been kidnapped! Whatever could this mean?! (Like anyone cares..) Well, might as well add, again, that I don't own Shadows, Mundus, Virgil, or Nelo Angelo. Goody. Anyways, please keep those review coming! I really appreciate them! Thanks a ton, ton, ton, for all people who have already reviewed! Your the fuel who keeps me going! ^_^ 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight - Rescue?  
  
"S***!" Dante growled as we ran to the doors to see a fleeting glimpse of a jumping Nelo holding the squirming form of Maria. "Look what she's done now! I knew I shouldn't have trusted any of you.Why didn't I listen to gut instinct! I've never trusted anyone before! And you!" he said as he pointed to me. "How do you know about Virgil? How?! Does Mundus has something to do with this?!" I could tell he was in a rage, and I backed up against a wall. Alca was right behind me. "It doesn't matter! I'll kill him first, and then I'll come back for you. Discusting demon puppets!" he yelled as we watched in horror as he jumped off the balcony that was right outside of the doors. All I could do was whimper out a measly, ".....what have I done?"  
  
After a moment of silence after we had seen the last of the fleeting figure of Dante, I heard Alca finally move over to me.   
  
"Are you alright?" I could sense the growing concern in her voice. She knew how much I admired Dante. I practically worshipped him.  
  
"I'll be fine... just give me a minute to soak this all in." I responded, trying to keep my voice steady and not break down. I heard a rustle of cloth as she moved away from me to the doorway where our friend had disappeared. She sighed tiredly.  
  
"Can you believe this?" she seemed to be talking to herself, so I didn't dare interrupt. "It happened... so... so quickly. Well, what do you suppose we do now?" She was still by the window, looking out at the horizon. The sun had begun its descent, and she knew it would be unsafe to stay here when it got completely dark.   
  
"Well, do you think we should go after her, him, or both?" I responded, gathering myself and standing up. I strode over to where she stood and we both looked out at the horizon.   
  
"I hate to say it, but this is the truth. Maria is much more important, she doens't know how to fight. Dante can surely handle himself. But she can't. And who knows what that guy'll do to her? I mean.... we don't even know why he took off with her! Geez..... this puzzle is racking my brain!" she said, her face mixing into one of concern and irritation.   
  
I turned to her and sighed. "Well, I'm all up for finding Maria, but where to start?"  
  
She giggled. "Isn't it obvious by now?"  
  
"Of course! I'm so stupid" I slapped my forehead. "The underworld!"  
  
"Ding-ding-ding! Two points!"  
  
"Well, lets get going already!"  
  
She nodded. "Alright! We need to find Maria before something really bad happens!" she said somewhat happily, for the situation we had just gotten ourselves into. "Let's just hope everyone stays out of our way!"  
  
"Yeah, really! Screw following the rest of the missions! We're on our own now. Let's stop by the nearest Statue of Time to stock up on Holy Water, I can bet we're going to need it."  
  
"There's one over there," Alca said, pointing next to the bed.  
  
"I don't see how I missed it!" I said, laughing and walking over to it.  
  
"What is it that you desire?" I heard a voice say in my head as I reached the statue.   
  
"Hmmm, I'll take 10 Holy Waters," I said, placing the required orbs in front of the lion-like rock. I watched them dissipate into a reddish mist, and soak into the statue. In their place the Holy Waters appeared. I handed 5 of them to Alcapacien. "You ready?" I said as she finished sticking them into her side-pack. She walked over and picked up the Melancholy Soul, the yellowish ball that had dropped out of the woman statue earlier.  
  
"Always," she said, and we left the room where our adventure really began.  
  
As we reached the Pride of Lion room, we were instantly shocked. I had to jump back to keep from falling. Falling in a pit that is. The previous area where the Phantom had escaped destruction by creating a hole in the floor, there was now, instead, a large black pool in its place. I could dimly see something below the surface, but I couldn't yet make it out. The pool seemed to have a gooey consistency, since it neither rippled or ebbed. It gleamed an evil purple as me and Alca scurried up to its edge.  
  
"Tisk tisk, someone made a BIG mess when they created an exit." I said playfully.  
  
"Very funny," Alca said as she brushed past me gruffly.   
  
"Whats with you? Someone's gotten PMS quickly now haven't we?"   
  
"It's... nothing. There's just something over here I wanna check out."  
  
"Like what?" I inquired, for I had been growing curious every second.  
  
"There's something glowing over here..." I watched her move gracefully around the pull and to the opposite wall. "And it happens to be a pair of... flaming gauntlets?" she said with question as she picked up the said gloves with curiousity.  
  
"Ahh, the Ifrits. I was wondering if we would come across those suckers. Well... I guess since you found 'em, you can keep 'em." I said, a little disappointed.  
  
"So, what do they do?"  
  
I leaned up against the wall. "Well, thy increase your power... but... there's something odd about this. I know for a fact that the Ifrits should not be in this room. It's as if the game's making it easier for us. So many things out of place... what could it all mean?" I asked more to myself then to my companion.  
  
"I dunno. But these thing make me feel stronger. More dignified, if you will. And I believe we need to hurry on, or something might happen. Without us... or ya know, it could also be a bad happening. Anyways, let's just get going!" she said, and with that, she launched herself straight into the pool and out of my sight.   
  
"Finally!" I yelled in excitement, "Time for some action!" and I followed Alcapacien into the abyss of the underworld to look for our lost friend. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine - Arson, The One and Only   
  
"This is so gross," Alca said as we truged through the so-called underworld. Otherwise called the "Big, nasty, icky-thing maze". It was practically the same as being in the stomach of some kind of wierd monster... or a demon perhaps. I wondered why anything would actually want to dwell here.  
  
"Home sweet home," I said as we traveled the wet, slobbery hallways.  
  
"Yeah, for demons," Alca said impatiently.  
  
"Well, what do you suppose we are in this world?"  
  
"Good point,"  
  
"I'm glad that's understood. Now stop whining and pick up the pace,"  
  
As we continued walking through the underworld's hallways - intially one would immediately think intestines - we reached a door of some kind. It look like a thin sheet of red, pulsating flesh. Being the oh-so-violent person I am, I sliced the door open without a second thought.  
  
Talk about shocking. Behind door #1 was a place I had never seen before. It looked like a prison, dank and deep.   
  
"Ooooooooo crap!" I nearly yelled, getting more mad by the second.  
  
"What?" Alca said, worry deep in her voice. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I have no clue where we are! This wasn't in the game.... or anything else I've read about Devil May Cry."  
  
"So.... no more guide?"  
  
I nodded. "No more guide."  
  
She shrugged. "Well... we better make the best of it. This looks like a prison.... maybe Mundus keeps prisoners here. Maria might be here!"  
  
"True, very true," I said as we got on the road again, passing the jail cells one by one, looking in each to see something, anything, that looked alive or familiar.  
  
"Woah!" I finally yelled out, "It's getting really hot in here, and its heating up very quickly."  
  
"Yeah," I saw Alca holding her nose. "And it reeks!"  
  
"Smells like...sulfur?"  
  
"And how would you know?"  
  
"I've been to a volcano before, Mrs. Wise-Ass."  
  
"Whatever. Hey - " she said, pointing to one of the cells, "what's that?"  
  
We looked in only to wish we hadn't.  
  
"That would be a corpse I believe," I said, holding my nose also.  
  
It looked somewhat like a human's body, but its skin was a deep black, and it had a charred texture. I could see the body was also steaming. It's mouth was wide open, as if in protest of being killed.  
  
"Ugh!" Alca yelled, jumping back.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turned around quickly at the voice, obviously male. It had a gravelly voice, and sounded like two people speaking at once. What my eyes met up with was also very shocking. A little ways from us, stood some kind of... creature. It looked like a boy, around my age, with brown hair. The eyes are what caught my attention though. They were red. Glowing red. His face had an innocent, boyish apperance and he also looked like he was covered in something. It looked sort of like roots, but with the color of a polished bone. Right in the middle of his chest was a giant eye, staring straight at me. It was red also, but it didn't glow, and parts were yellow. He walked towards us akwardly, like he was trying to run in both directions.  
  
"What do you mean beautiful?! It certainly isn't!" Alca started releasing some of her disgustedness onto him. "I hope your not about to tell me this is your handy work?"  
  
"Oh.... but it is. And you'll soon be just like him. Or should I say it? Humans are such low-level creatures, they're not even worth noticing." he responded, with a harsh edge to his voice.  
  
"Geez, someone got on the wrong side of Hell today." I grumbled to myself. "But that thing on his chest.... it looks like an Infestant!" (By the way, and Infestant is a demon who infests things, objects and people mostly, and bends them to it's will.)  
  
From where I was near the cell with the smoking corpse, I saw the guy lift up two swords, which were on fire, and watched as he got ready to lunge towards Alca. "Alca!" I cried, seeing that she wasn't ready for the hit, "Go for his eye with your sword, but be quick!" She immediately responded by throwing herself to the left as the boy soared over her right shoulder, finally landing on the ground and turning around swiftly. He was VERY quick for someone who stumbled so much when they walked. I rolled into the brawl, my winged sword held outright, lunging towards him as his back was towards me. Without moving a muscle, he shot out a sword for my left rib when I was inches away from slicing his spine. I felt warm blood gush out of my side, spraying the floor in think droplets. I fell to the ground with a clatter, my sword sliding several feet away from my range of grasp. I held my side, trying to keep the blinding hot pain in my side, to keep it from spreading so much that I couldn't move. But I saw I hadn't the need. With my slowly darkening vision, I saw Alca reach into her side pocket and hold something above her head. She threw it at the ground - hard - and I heard the silence-breaking sound of crackling glass. A blue wave arched its way through the room, passing over everything without a change, except the boy. I saw it obviously pained him when it touched, the signs - his face in pain, the eyes bunched up, the swords falling to the ground with him beside them, the smell and sound of something boiling - were numerous. As I watched, amazed, I saw the root-like bindings sizzle, gush black, oily liquids onto the floor, and retreat from the body of a boy around my age. They made a sound, oddly like a screech, and disappeared into the dankness of the ground. My intelligent friend, a quick-thinker, had used a Holy Water.  
  
Alcapacien ran over to my side swiftly, ignoring the form of our attacker for now. "Geeez! That's a bad gash! Are you alright?!" she said, turning me over gently to take a look.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll heal soon. It just might hurt like Hell for a while..." I said as she helped me get onto my feet. I pointed over to the still downed form of the boy who attacked us. "Should we look and see if he's alright?" I asked quietly.  
  
"Alright?! Who cares? He just tried to kill us, and almost did you in!" she shouted at me excitedly. "Your lucky you bought those earlier... or you would've been dead."  
  
"Come on... it's not his fault. Didya see that white thing on him before? It was an Infestant. It was controlling him... besides, leaving him here wouldn't be a good idea either. Someone might find him and figure an intruder was taking a stroll through the Underworld."  
  
"Well... if you say so." She helped me steadily to my feet and we made our way over to him. I could tel he was still alive, his chest lifted and fell with hard, ragged breaths. That Holy Water musta hurt like crazy compared to what he did to me. "Hey? You alright?" Alca said over his head, poking him. Standing this close, I couldn't help noticing how handsome he was. I blushed slightly as Alca pushed him harder.  
  
  
  
"Geez.... don't do that again." he groaned, coughing up a little sputter of blood. "It hurts..."  
  
"Well," Alca announced to me, "I think he's alive still."  
  
"Naw, really? When didya figure that out?" I responded to her sarcastically. I turned back to him. "You okay? You look a bit beat up..."  
  
"Oooo! Idea!" Alca took a green orb out of her pouch. She held it over him, and we watched it turn into a hazy green mist and flow into his body.  
  
He immediately started healing, all visible wounds practically evaporating. He sat up quickly.  
  
"You okay?" I asked again.  
  
"I think I'll be all right... thanks by the way." he turned to look at us and shock hit his face at once. "Who are you?! And what might you be doing in a place like this?"  
  
"Well... your welcome first of all. This is Alcapacien, and I'm Xyphos. We're here searching for our friend." I immediately answered. He nodded in acknowledgement. I could tell he was somehow, at least, part demon, I just didn't know how exactly. I guess... to put it in simple terms.. I just felt it. I answered truthfully because I could feel that we could trust him. He looked at least trustworthy. "So... now that I've answered your questions, what's your name and why are you here?"  
  
"Well.... to be truthful, I don't know. I don't even remember what happened before I woke up. And my name..." he hesistated at this, me and Alca could tell he didn't feel very comfortable giving out his name, "it's..... Arson."  
  
"Well, that's a very cool name I must say." he smiled a little at this, I guess he was ashamed of his name, "Since now we're all aquainted an' stuff, and we're probably going the same way, mind if you come with us?" I asked as sweet as I could. I knew we were going to need more manpower to get through here. "Two girls in the Underworld alone... who knows what could happen!" Alca added on.  
  
He cracked his neck several times and stood up before he answered. "Well.... since I don't remember anything, and you guys seem nice enough, sure, I guess I will. Plus, I owe you a favor since you healed me."  
  
Alca sighed impatiently. "Ok! Good! Let's get going already... please? We need to find Maria soon!" she whined miserably.  
  
We started off again, Arson leading in front with us following. "Before I woke up.." he suddenly asked, out of the blue, "what was I doing?"  
  
"Well.... you were attacking us, y'see. You were being controlled by an Infestant." he nodded at this new slab of news. "We... er... Alca here, got rid of it, and then she healed you."  
  
"Oh..." he muttered shyly, and I could see from my point-of-view that he was also blushing. "I hope I didn't hurt you..."  
  
"Don't worry, " I said, massaging my ribs as we spoke, "You only gave me a little cut, but it's healed by now."  
  
"Come on!" Alca said, from her new position in front of us. She had at sometime got in front as we were talking. "Let's GO!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yay! Another new character! ^_^ Thankies a ton to Bustahead, a.k.a. Myst, who let me use her OC Arson. Arson is featured in all, or most, of her fanfics. I suggest you go read them. Well actually, I DEMAND that you do! ^_^ They're the best DMC fanfics I've seen for a loooong time, and she knows it too. ;) She's also done a big favour for me and used Xyphos in some of her fanfics! *Hug* Thanks a lot! Thanks a lot to all of those reviewers too! I love ya guys! ^_^ 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten - Unveiled Pasts  
  
We came across another flesh-door, and our new companion showed off one of his talents. We watched, awed, as he formed a small ball of fire and tossed it at the door, burning it down in an instant.  
  
"I'm guessing your a demon." I said as we stared at the ashes.  
  
He blushed, barely noticably, and nodded.  
  
"He's not a big talker either," Alca said as she whispered in my ear.  
  
"Something someone else should learn to do." I said and grinned.  
  
We stepped through only to find ourselves in a room.... completely full of Shadows.  
  
"Oh crap." I thought outloud.   
  
"Maybe you guys should run. I'm sure I could distract 'em long enough for you guys to get through." Arson suggested.  
  
"No way! I've been waiting a long time for a good fight." I said, stretching and unsheathing my sword.  
  
Alca was way ahead of us though. She bounded into the mass of black bodies. She moved like the wind, a slash here, a stab there.  
  
"Wait up!" Arson yelled, plunging into the fight alongside Alca.  
  
Sure enough, right when I was about to join them, I lost sight of Al. I last had seen her fighting near one of the doors, an exit I guessed, but her body had been blacked out by the Shadows.  
  
"ARSON!" I yelled, trying to be loud enough for him to hear me. "ALCA'S GONE!"  
  
Arson was struggling, trying to concentrate on what I said and fight. "Give me a minute!" he said, and ended the battle by using a Holy Water.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Geez..... we're never gonna find her!" I wailed as we finished up looking around the room for any sign of Alca. I sat down on the marble of the ground and sighed. Why had she left us like that?  
  
Arson came back in from the hallways he had been looking through. He sat down next to me. "You shouldn't worry too much, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."  
  
"That's just the thing though.... she doesn't! She has no clue to where she needs to go, she's not a very strong fighter, and she doesn't like violence! This is hopeless..."  
  
A few minutes passed by while he left me to soak in the situation.  
  
"I noticed you were doing very well against those demons. You seemed to actually.... enjoy fighting them." Arson said, out of the blue.  
  
'Now there's a random thought if I've ever seen one,' I thought. "Yeah.... well.... I guess you could say it's because of my brother."  
  
"Your brother?"  
  
"Well... yeah. When I was little,... he would always pick on me, beat me up, stuff like that. My parents thought he was an angel, so they'd always think I was making it all up to get attention. I told my teachers, and they kept going on and on about how I should 'stick up for myself'. So I took their advice." I explained to him the beginnings of my past. I didn't know why, but he had some kind of aura... a pure one...one that you could trust... and I needed to get this burden off of my shoulders. I couldn't tell my friends, they'd never believe me. And I sure didn't want to go to any kind of shrink. Arson listened attentively, looking almost interested in what I had to say.  
  
"But I... I took it too far. One day I found out he was really going to hurt me.. in front of his friends. They thought it was funny, watching the torment of others. So I took my father's gun with me."  
  
Arson's eyes widened at this. "Go on." he urged.  
  
"You must understand, I only wanted to protect myself. I didn't want to hurt anyone! Ecspecially my own flesh and blood. Well..... when he got me in front of his friends, I took out the gun... and pointed it at him. I said things like 'Come on, I know you want to!' and 'Do you enjoy watching me suffer?' Well, he started to turn red, and he clenched his fists. I remember ever detail of that day...." I tried really hard to hold in the tears I knew were going to come. "Well, anyways, he started to come towards me, while his friends scattered. And I.... I shot him. I knew he would've killed me if he had gotten that far. The bullet... it went straight through his lungs, shredding them, and he died the next day in the hospital. After I had shot him, I ran off home, dropping the gun by his side. His friends must have told someone, 'cause some doctors came a little while later, and took him to a hospital. I heard the next day from my parents that he had died in the hospital, suffering from a punctured lung. And it was all my fault... so I blamed myself. I started to hate myself, and I would get angry at the slightest thing. I'd always hurt myself at every chance I had. I became really violent towards everyone... so I ran away from home. Well, my parents found me about 2 days later, in a forest in our backyard. Nothing really happened though, they just acted like they always had. The lived as if I had never had a brother, and from what I could tell, they never did find out it had been me who killed him. Everyone thought that he had commited suicide since my dad's gun was beside his body. Time went on, and eventually everyone forgot about my brother. My parents never talk about him, and neither do I. None of my friends know about this at all. I didn't want to tell them, and make them feel sorry for me. I never liked feeling sympathy, or getting it from others."  
  
"Why did you tell me this?" Arson asked when I had finished up. I didn't really know what to say, so I hid my head between my knees.  
  
"Well..... I just really needed to tell someone. I feel like I can trust you."  
  
"After we just met?"  
  
"Well.... yeah." I tried not to cry, but the tears ran silently down my face against my will.  
  
He looked at me with concern in his boyish features. "And of all the people you could tell, you told someone who could relate to you." he replied, with evident sadness.  
  
I looked up abruptly, forgetting the tears that stained my face. "What are ya talking about?"  
  
"I'm like you. I was... well.... ill-treated as a child." he choked out after a few minutes had passed after my question. "Except it was my mother who did it.... and she died because of that abuse like your brother did."  
  
I knew this had to be a one-chance meeting. Two people actually willing to give up their pasts to one another. I never would have thought it would be anything like this.  
  
"Well.... it started when my father left my family behind. I had a sister at the time. He left without telling me or my sister why. I didn't think my mother knew, but later on I found out she did. He had went out to do a job, but she told herself that he had left her. And that's what she always believed. So she started to blame me for it. She would constantly hit me, make me work, and let me get sick without trying to help me get better. She never did any of the sort to my sister. My mother would often call me a "curse" and she hated herself for ever giving birth to me. During this I never di have good control.... of my powers that is. And because I'm a demon, I have the ability to manipulate fire. But that makes me innatly weak against water. Mom would make me dunk myself into a tub full of water, or she would just pour it on me. Well, one night, I was having a nightmare, one of the ones I usually got back then, about my mother. The nightmare made me.... afraid... so I lost control of my powers. I burned the house my family lived in while I was asleep. I awoke in time enough to get out before it was completely burned. What made me really afraid was that no one had made an attempt to save me. That was the first time I did anything really serious. Later on she tried to kill me directly. Well, my grandfather saved me from her, and I came to live with him and his partner. Well, to cut a long story short, I met up with my father some time later. My mother found me and my mother, right after our reunion. Since she thought my dad had left her, she hated him. So she attacked him. My grandfather was there with us at the time too, so both him and my father attacked my mother. I again, lost control of my emotions, and changed into my demon form. I then killed her. I killed her with my own two hands..." he started to slow down, while he looked at his hands with deep sorrow.  
  
"Go on," I urged, just as he had done. I was very interested in his story.  
  
"I've always have nightmares about her since then. That she would come back.... my father and grandfather would tell me that what I did was for the best. Well, we lived together for a while back then. Me, my sis, my dad, my grandfather, and his partner. My father left us again to go on a journey. I started to live with my grandfather for a while.... but he disappeared. I sensed that he had come here, so I transported myself here. When I do that... I become really weak. I guess that's how the Infestant got a hold of me."  
  
"So that's how you came to be here..." I said to myself. He nodded.  
  
"Man... talk about depressing. Childhood wasn't so bright and happy for us, was it?" I sighed exhaustion. "I bet you have no idea how much better I feel now that I've told someone that."  
  
He grinned slightly, despite the emotion in the air. "I'm sure I do," was his response.  
  
A few minutes of silence passed.  
  
"This is the most awkward situation I've ever been in." I said with a laugh. "By the way... I was wondering... what's your grandfather's name?"  
  
"Uhm... well... his name's Dante. Dante Sparda."  
  
"Oh crap," I cursed outloud. Arson looked up.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Uh.... its nothing. Let's just say.... I had a bit of a run-in with him."  
  
Arson immediately jumped up with ectasy. "You did? Then why are we waiting around here?! We need to find him!"  
  
"Well, we were trying to look for two of my friends! Are you saying that Dante is more important?!" I started to get a bit angry with him and his selfishness.  
  
"No offense, but to me, he is. I agreed to help you find your friends. But I'm gonna need your help to find Dante."  
  
I got up off of my spot on the floor and sighed. "Well.. alright. Let's go. I can't stand being in this room anymore... too many bad memories." He nodded once and grinned. Together we walked out the door, entering a long corridor. Somehow we had managed to get ourselves back into the castle. "Oh great!" I said, asperated. I looked behind me to the door we had just entered, only to see a wall. "ARGH! What the hell? How are we supposed to get back to the Underworld now!" We had found ourselves back in the Pride of Lion room.  
  
"You won't need to." Maria said, looking back at us with a knowing glint in her eye.  
  
"Maria! Your alright!" I ran towards her and snagged her in a friendly embrace.  
  
"Of course I am! I only had to walk away from blue boy while he wasn't looking. Looks like you guys just came out of that corridor though. I've been waiting hours for ya here. Looks as though there isn't a corridor anymore though...." she said, scratching her head. She turned back to Arson. "Who are you, anyways?"   
  
"I'm a friend of Xyphos'. I'll tell ya more later. We don't know where your friend is... but we'll find her." Arson piped in. "So no worries, even though we got a new mission. We're gonna find your other friend, but we need to find Dante too."  
  
"That old senile bastard? Why?"  
  
I could hear a growl when Arson replied. "Because he's my grandfather, and I came to find him."  
  
"Oh." was all Maria muttered, before blushing a blood red.  
  
"So why won't we need to go back to the Underworld?" I interrupted.  
  
"I know neither one of them is there. I can sense both Alca and Dante, and they're somewhere in the castle."  
  
"Fun, fun" Arson added sarcasticlly, "A hunt."  
  
"No, no hunt." a voice said, out of the shadows in a corner of the room catching the three of us by surprise.  
  
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YAY! Cliffhanger! Ok, seriously guys, did you think that was a good chapter? I really tried to make it sad and depressing, and I don't think its that good... -_-' Anyways, bonding is good, yes very good. Ok, anyways, please read and review, and tell me what you think of it! Thanks a lot to Bustahead again for the ideas and using Xyphos! ^_^ *Hug* 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven - Flight of the Devils  
  
Alcapacien walked out of the shadows, dragging a certain silver-haired hunter by his coat. Seeing our confused look, she dropped him and tried to explain, her arms waving about excitedly.  
  
"I found him locked up, so being the EXTREMELY nice person I am I rescued him. Then he starting acting all macho and braggin' and stuff. He wouldn't shut up after I nicely asked him to keep his trap shut, so I knocked him out with my sword."  
  
All three of us just stared at her, mouths hanging open.  
  
"You did...what now?" I asked uncertainly. "God Alca! You can't just knock him out whenever he pisses you off!"  
  
"But he wouldn't shut up!"  
  
"Haven't you learned anything? He always acts like that! Geez.... what am I gonna do with you people?!"  
  
Arson stood for a minute more, then collected himself and ran over to Dante's unconscious body, shouting a faint "Gran'pa!" as he rushed over. "Gran'pa? Are you alright?" he added, shaking Dante roughly.  
  
Dante just sat there and didn't move, besides the steady rising and falling of his chest.  
  
"Geez Alca, how hard DID you hit him?" I said as me and Maria glared at Alca.  
  
"All I did was give him a good smack on the back of his head."  
  
"That would probably leave him knocked out for hours." Maria added.  
  
"Wait," I said quietly, "He's waking up."  
  
And as I had said, our red-clad companion slowly sat up and rubbed his head.  
  
"Ugh.... what the hell happened?"  
  
"Gran'pa! You're alright!" Arson said happily.  
  
Alca stepped behind me and just whistled innocently.   
  
Dante looked up at her and growled, "You!" With that, he jumped up and started to chase her around the room.  
  
"That is the saddest thing I have ever seen. A grown man chasing around a girl." I said to Maria.  
  
  
  
"I never knew he was so immature."  
  
"Hah! You should see him around Christmas." Arson added.  
  
"Well, anyways, now that we're all here, what do you suppose we do next?" I asked my companions.  
  
"HELP! AGGHHH NOOO!" Alca screamed in the background. She laughed at Dante as he tried to get her. "Loser, you can't catch me... Muahahahahahahahah!!"  
  
I just watched in shock. "Oookay.... that was... interesting. Annnywaaays.... this is so childish. I'm just disappointed."  
  
"Stupid girl!" Dante growled as he continued chasing Alca around the room.  
  
"Weeeeee! I haven't had this much fun in a loooooong time.... heehee! What's wrong 'Granpa'? Can't catch me?" Alca continued to run around laughing like a manic.  
  
"My god, this is soooo sad. Someone... please.. just shoot me..." Arson sighed.  
  
"Bang!" I chirped cheerfully.  
  
"That's not funny.." he said, trying to hold back a grin.  
  
"What, you guys don't think its funny that Dante, 'The Great Demon Hunter' can't catch a girl?" Alca piped in happily.  
  
Dante growled and transformed into his demon form. Alca shrieked and transformed too and both unfurled their wings. The two started running around with demon speed, Dante still hot on Alca's trail.  
  
"Geez.... I can't even put into words how sad and useless this is--"  
  
A sudden gust of wind cut me off and everyone stopped abruptly and looked towards the ceiling. We could see a vortex of some kind, where all of the winds were originating from. Three ruby orbs appeared at the center and gleamed evilly.   
  
"You pitiful mortals!" A voice boomed in the room, "You are famed to be powerful, but this is how you spend your time! Being childish and showing your ignorance for all to see!"  
  
"Mundus!" Dante yelled as he transformed back and frowned at the gems in the sky.  
  
"M...Mundus?!" Maria shrieked and cowered behind Arson, who just stood there with a determined look on his face.  
  
"Mundus, you coward! Where are you hiding?!"  
  
"You won't need to be told, little one. You'll see me soon enough!" As Mundus' voice echoed throughout the halls, black-purple portals appeared underneath Arson, Maria, and I. The next thing we knew, we had disappeared into the floor. Alca and Dante just stared at the place their friends had been, while a evil laugh echoed off the walls, leaving the two to the coming silence.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Xyphos shuddered lightly and backed away, her manacles clinking almost musically as she backed into a wall. Arson slowly woke up, his head groggy. He became fully alert as he heard someone sobbing to his right. "Are you alright?" Arson asked concerned, as his vision started clearing up.  
  
Xyphos shook her head roughly. "It's just that.... all the death and decay here.... it reminds me of my brother for some reason. This place.... it reeks of sadness..." she said, and broke into a fit of sobbing again.  
  
Arson looked at her almost tenderly, and put his arms around her. She almost immediately tensed up, but eventually relaxed into his arms.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Maria opened her eyes to inky blackness. It reminded her strongly of death and decay. Turning her head caused pain to shoot up her spine, so intense that she could barely breathe. Opening her eyes again, she saw Xyphos and Arson close and hugging. "Uhh...guys? I'm here too ya know..." Maria grunted loudly.  
  
She saw both of them pull away and blush a furious red.   
  
"Well...uh...ya see.." Xyphos tried to explain, as Arson just looked shyly towards the ground.  
  
Maria laughed heartily, and sat up. "That's okay guys, I understand. No need to explain. Truth is, I always thought you'd make a cute couple.." This made Xyphos and Arson blush even harder.  
  
"Come on, don't joke like that Maria! We're not a couple... and we'd never be one." Arson said feebly. Maria saw that Xyphos' face saddened as she heard those words.   
  
* * * * *  
  
'How could he say that?' Xyphos thought to herself. 'He's so cute.... in a boyish way. Kind, understanding... the things I've always looked for in a guy. He's also the only one... the only one I could tell my past. He's the only one I've ever really trusted.... Man, what do I care?! He's obviously not interested.... but..... it hurts to hear him say that..... it hurts so much....'  
  
* * * * *  
  
Leaving them to 'talk' Maria looked around. They were in a room that was much like a medieval dungeon. They were chained to the walls by manacles hooked around their ankles. The room was stone wall, and you could hear a light drip of water at regular intervals. In the corner was a hole for the necessary 'drop off'. Mold was forming on the walls.  
  
The manacles were smooth and cold. They chaffed their skin. Bones were littering the floor, making a horrible stench of decay. The little light that was in the room entered through a window grate on a wooden door. The light was suddenly cut off as someone stood in front of the door, and Nelo Angelo walked in. Without uttering any sound, he knelt in front of Maria. Unlocking her chains he pulled her up and led her out of the cell. She didn't even bother struggling in his grip. Arson and Xyphos just stared after them, even after the door closed and light danced upon the floor again.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Dante and Alca just stared at the places their companions had last been.   
  
"This is all of your fault, you loser!" Alca broke the silence. "If you hadn't have been so immature, they wouldn't be gone!"  
  
Dante just stood there with his arms folded. "You really should put accusations to where they're due."  
  
"Why you.... how can you be so calm?!"  
  
"Being over-excited isn't going to help anyone, ya know."  
  
"Shut up.. you... you perve!"  
  
"What...me? Never..."  
  
"Grrr.... we have to help them you know!"  
  
"Well, your welcome to go on ahead and save them."  
  
Alca sighed and clenched her fists. "I'm going to need your....help." she growled through clenched teeth.  
  
"Ahhh....the 'Great One'-- wait I mean 'Weak One' -- dares to ask me for help." Dante teased.  
  
"What?! I'm not weak! I'm not the one who fell unconscious when hit with a sword!"  
  
"Just....shut up, kid. Let's go already."  
  
"Aye-aye, captain." Alca said, striding off leaving Dante, mumbling, to follow  
  
  
  
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'Ello again, kiddies! Hope your liking my first fanfic so far. :P My friend, Aly, who plays Alcapacien in this story, (She also has a FF.net account with the name Alcapacien) helped me a lot during this chapter, so I'm giving her a big shout-out and thank you for all of her hard work! I never would've finished this chapter without ya Aly! ^_^ Another big thankies to all of the reviews, and to Bustahead for letting me use Arson and giving me support! Thanks also again to Bustahead, who helped me work out some kinks in this chapter, and giving me ideas for future chapters. Thanks a ton to all of you guys! ^_^ 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve - A Wall of Courage  
  
It had become a lot colder in the dungeon. I tried to take stock of my surroundings and I was surprised to see that Arson was still awake. My eyes focused on his face and suddenly I was filled with intense anger. How could he have said that so easily? Without even giving it a second thought? It didn't make any sense. I didn't realise how long I had glared out my sudden anger at him. I was startled when he suddenly spoke.  
  
"What's wrong?" His voice was barely over a whisper. Trying not to be detected, I thought to myself.  
  
"How could you have said that?"  
  
"Said what?" I looked at him shocked. He didn't even remember? "Said what?" he repeated. He looked so innocent, as if he truly didn't know what I was talking about.  
  
"That we could never be together." I said. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to even gauge what it was I was saying.  
  
"What?" Arson asked, starting to blush again. "Are you telling me you were considering it?!"  
  
"Err.....well.....yeah..."  
  
He responded with a feeble "Oh," and silence filled the room again.  
  
I tried to reposition myself, but the chains held tight and didn't give me much freedom of movement. "Don't you think you could burn these damn things off?" I said, the anger from the previous conversation still giving an edge to my voice.  
  
"Yeah, sure, if you don't want to have hands anymore."  
  
I sighed. "Good point... man....we are so screwed. We need to get out of here and find Maria again before something bad happens to her....again."  
  
"I know, but how do you propose we escape out of these chains?"  
  
"Got a hairpin?"  
  
His face turned serious. "I don't find that funny...."  
  
"Well....sorry. Still, there has to be some way out of here. Maybe we can wait for Dante and Alca....maybe eventually they'll find us..maybe?"  
  
As if in a command, the floor started shaking abruptly. Bits of dust, old rock, and mold trifted lazily around us, and I could hear the stones rubbing against each other angrily. The floor started to split, and steam rose through the opening. I could only imagine what was going to happen. There was probably lava, or fire, or something deadly under the floor, and we were about to get dropped into it.  
  
Arson saw it first. "Oh....God...no...!"  
  
I saw it too. It was a pool of....water? 'What the hell?' I thought. 'Like water's gonna kill me!' I could see Arson's face was showing terror though. He was ultimatly afraid of it. "What's wrong Arson?" I yelled over the rumbling of the cavern.  
  
He didn't take his eyes off of the slowly moving floor. "I....it's water!"  
  
"Yeah, so what?"  
  
"If I get dropped in there, I'll die!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"I'm a frickin' fire demon for crying out loud! If you didn't notice, water extinguishes fire!"  
  
"No need to ger pissy now," I snapped.  
  
"I'm not pissy! I'M JUST HOVERING SEVERAL FEET ABOVE A DEADLY SUBSTANCE!"  
  
"You mean deadly to you."  
  
"So your just going to sit and watch me die?" he said, his head drooping slightly.  
  
"No....don't worry, we'll find a way out of here...somehow..." I said, looking around for anything to help us escape. But of course I didn't find anything, since we were both chained to the wall and hanging above a pool of water.  
  
A small click echoed throughout the cell.  
  
And Arson screamed as he was dropped into the pool of water below, leaving me dismayed as I hung to ther wall, watching the water boil and bubble, with Arson's dark form struggling under its clear blue surface.  
  
****************************************  
  
"Ugh........this sucks....." Maria said as her body was lurched up and down.  
  
"Don't you think you could cut down on the jumping?" she asked hopeful.  
  
Nelo Angelo just looked down at her face quickly, and looked back out ahead of him.  
  
"Stupid bastard doesn't even talk.....let alone be nice enough to not drop me....twice."  
  
The armor clad demon jumped from ledge to ledge, eyeing growling Nobodies as he passed.  
  
"And I'm hungry.... and this place looking like the intestines of something isn't helping....this is repulsive....I can actually see the walls moving.."  
  
They came and stopped at a large red door on a ledge above a beating heart. Or something that looked like a heart.  
  
"What.....tired already? Mr. Strong-and-Silent?"  
  
Nelo Angelo kicked the doors open, and literally threw Maria inside, shutting the doors behind her ragged body.  
  
Maria pulled herself up, taking note of her bruises and cuts. "Stupid no good son-of-a......whoa."  
  
She had come to find herself in a cathedral. It was a beautiful place, with white marble tile covering all the walls and floor. She could see her reflection in the floor, but she looked away seeing her face ragged and mangled. Angelic white light spilled into the room from slits seated high on the walls. It gave the room a heavy church-like feeling. Ancient carvings coated the walls, with strange designs and shapes. Pillars were scattered along the walls, as pearly white as the rest of the room. At the opposite side of the room where Maria sat, was a colossal statue of a man. He was in a seated position, his gigantic hands resting on a shortened pillar, one on each of his sides. His top half was shirtless and well-defined. The bottom half was covered by a robe. Maria found it strange that the only place that was dark in the room was where the statue sat. The face was completely covered by shadows, but Maria guessed it looked very handsome. She looked up and saw the the ceiling was even more intricate than the walls. A blue pattern was etched into each white tile, with gold shapes inside it. Maria snapped her head back to the statue as 3 blood red gem-like lights began to glow where the statue's face was hidden by shadows.   
  
"What..the...hell?" she said breathlessly. "Don't tell me that that's....Mundus?!"  
  
An unsaintly laugh bounced off the walls and reverberated through the chamber. "Hah.....too true you are child."  
  
"I'm not a child Mr. Statue-person! I'm almost 16!"  
  
"Oh, well, forget my rudeness." Mundus replied, and unleashed another loathful laugh.  
  
"You sure arn't acting very devil-king...ish."  
  
Mundus' red eyes shrank in concentration, and then shot out three red spear-like shards around Maria, missing her by inches.  
  
"Ok....I take that back."  
  
"You seem capatible enough from what I have seen you do. I have a.......job I would like you to do."  
  
"Oh sure. Yeah, I'd love to take orders from the guy who's evil and mean and whatnot."  
  
"Be silent....child. You will do it rather you want to or not. But since this is easier, I decided for you to see if you'll do it of your own free will.  
  
"Let's get this over with." Maria replied with a hateful glare towards the floor.  
  
"I want you to kill the son of Sparda. And the ones who travel with him."  
  
"What?! Oh sure, this'll be easy. Just let me go get my pocket knife. I'm sure he'll let me kill him." she said in a obvious saarcastic tone.  
  
"It should prove simple. You are a hybrid, you should have an easy enough time."  
  
"A hybrid...?"  
  
"A mixture of a human and a demon. Now be silent and listen. I know that you do not originate from this world. I know not of where you come, and I do not care. You shall kill him and the others, or I shall force you to. If you think you are too weak to kill them, I'll grant you more power."  
  
Maria thought hard about this. 'How can he expect me to so easily want to kill my friends? Just because he threatens me? HAH! What a joke. But maybe....maybe I have a plan.' she thought to herself.  
  
"I've thought long about this Mundus," she yelled up at the hidden face of the statue. "I'll do it.... as long as you and your minions stay out of my way."  
  
"Fine. But hurry. I don't have a record of being patient."  
  
Maria turned around and began to walk away, lost in her thoughts.  
  
Nelo Angelo brushed past her as she walked out of the cathedral. He turned to the statue and kneeled down on one knee, lowering his gaze.  
  
"Ah, Virgil. Make sure she does it......or dies."  
  
The devil knight stood up and nodded, and walked after Maria. 


	13. Chapter 13

{Author's note : Yay! You get to read more of me ranting! w00t for you! Anyways. In this chapter I'm going to try a new "style" of writing. It's going to be more darkified and angsty then the previous chapters, IF I can get it to work like I want it to. And if doesn't... oh well. -_- It'll probably start during the second part of the chapter. I'm also going to try to use more details, since some friends of mine suggest I do so. Hopefully I want go overboard though. o_O I've also found I do a lot better in 3rd person, so I might switch to it every so often. So get used to it.   
  
Yeah, anyways. I also did a little tweaking of a couple of previous chapters if anyone cares. Mostly I just created the character's outfits, because I noticed I didn't really say anything about them at first. O_o Well, let's hope I can get this chapter going and the angst nice and juicy. =b Now on with the show! Oh yeah, almost forgot. Dante and anything DMC (Blades, Mundus, that kinda stuff) doesn't belong to me, but Xyphos, Maria, and Alca do. Arson belongs to Bustahead, who gave me permission to use him in my fic. AND I DEMAND YOU GO READ HER STORIES SCALLYWAGS! Thanks to all reviewers too....you know I love you guys! ^_^ Ahem.....now on with the show.}  
  
Chapter Thirteen - The Warrior's Way  
  
  
  
"Have you sensed anything new lately?" Alcapacien asked impatiently.  
  
"This isn't easy y'know. Your not helping by annoying me." Dante answered gruffly, closing his eyes in concentration. "Aha!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
Dante opened his eyes and smiled. "I've found everyone. Arson and Xyphos are together, and Maria's lurking around near here."  
  
"Hmmm...."  
  
"What's up?"  
  
Alca got a worried look on her face. "Well, it's just that I would have expected them to be all together. I can't imagine why Maria's walking around alone."  
  
"Maybe she got lost?"  
  
"Well, let's hope. Dante, I was wondering....have you sensed anyone or anything else?"  
  
"No.....why?"  
  
"It's nothing.......there's just a group of Shadows coming down that corridor." Alca said, and pointed to the corrisponding hallway. Her hand went instinctly to the sword upon her back.  
  
"Guess it ain't what it used to be, eh?"  
  
"Let's just get this over with." she sighed, hating to be fighting again. She unsheathed her katana, the steel blade singing a metallic tune as it was unleashed. Dante kept his sword on his back, instead bringing out from the depths of his coat, his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory. She cocked her eyebrows at this. "Are you sure guns will hurt them?"  
  
"Well, since swords won't, better use these babies. But of course you knew that." he said and smirked.  
  
She sheathed her sword back up, and sighed. "Hopefully you have another gun!"   
  
"Of course m'lady." he answered, pulling another gun from inside his coat. He tossed it at Alca, who caught it not so gracefully. She grimaced. "A grenade launcher?!"  
  
"Have fun!" he said, dodging a night-black spear that a Shadow had shot at him.  
  
  
  
She sighed, trying to hold it steady. She breathed in deeply and pulled the trigger, launching a grenade at a Shadow who had been sneaking closer to her. It exploded right in it's face, and it melted into a black puddle. A purple-red orb emerged out of the puddle, spinning lazily.   
  
"Now!" Dante yelled over the bursts of his guns, "Attack it with your sword!"  
  
Obeying quickly, she ran over with sword in hand, slashing and stabbing it in a frenzy. The globe shattered, the shards and puddle literally melting into the ground. "Now that was invigorating!" she said after her glorius defeat of another enemy. The third Shadow noticed her weakness and tackled her from behind.  
  
Dante's first target disappeared as it was beaten. He looked over at Alca how had been knocked clear off her feet. "I thought you were a good fighter!"  
  
She got up to her feet, her spine throbbing badly. "I guess I've loss the attitude since I know my friends are in trouble." she said while readying her gun again.  
  
"Well," Dante said unsheathing his own sword and waiting for her to hit the last Shadow, "Now's not a good time to be showing weakness!"  
  
"I know that!" she said angrily as she shot a grenade at the final Shadow, who had become confused by the calmness of one and anger of the other. "I don't need your help!" she yelled, anger flooding her sight as she sliced the orb that had emerged in half before Dante got a chance to move in for the kill.   
  
"Geez.....why so angry?"  
  
"I just don't want help from some cocky person like you that's what."  
  
"Maybe so. But being that I have more experience fighting, you should."  
  
She huffed lightly.  
  
"Too much pride can be a bad thing ya know."  
  
"And of course you would know." she said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I would." he said with a laugh.  
  
"How...strange..." she said faintly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I just remembered how a while ago you vowed to kill me and Xy. Why the sudden change?"  
  
"Well......you sorta did... help me out of the prison place. I guess I owed you guys." Dante faltered a little as he spoke more. She guessed he wasn't used to apologizing and being grateful. She doubted he ever truly was. "Man..........you bunch of kids are making me all softish. I haven't thought of all this until now."  
  
"Your welcome. Ya know,.......I really hate 'Kodak' moments. Let's get out of here already."  
  
"Heh," Dante grinned, "Alright."  
  
Maria sat in silence as she watched them from the darkness infesting the corridor. The same corridor that the Shadows had emerged from.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Arson!" Xyphos yelled again, seeing that bubbles had ceased coming to the surface. She struggled against her bonds, desperately using all of her strength to break them. The chains held strong. All she had accomplished was making the chains cut into her wrist, causing a small stream of blood to flow down her arm. Her rage at not being able to do anything made her choke with anguish. The fear of watching someone die before her own eyes caused shivers to run up and down her spine. As she hung there struggling, the rage swelled, until it finally clouded her senses and she lost sight of what was happening. The only thing she was sure of was the pain that had suddenly washed over her body.   
  
Her skin started taking on a blackish tone, hardening into a rock-like substance. Visor-like plates covered her eyes, which had taken on a crimson tint. Steel-like plates began literally growing out of her skin, covering her legs and arms with rock-hard scales. Red channels of glowing energy ran along her now protective skin, looking like some kind of grotesque tattoo. Sharp metallic spikes shot out the top of her head and along her back, creating a very dragon-like feel to her new form. Her chest became also covered with the scales, covering every weak spot that she had. Wings forced themselves from her back, pushing her off of the wall, causing more pain to her already-bleeding wrists. The wings sported a bright silver color, with random stripes of a dark green. Strong black veins showed up in the leathery folds of the wings.   
  
Xyphos felt strength course through her new form as the pain dulled. She broke through her already strained bonds easily, immediately flapping her wings to stay above the pool below her. The demon side of her thought only of freedom, of getting out of the small enclosed tower she was in, but the human side urged her body to go down and help her dying friend. As her new form had emerged, it seemed her conscience had split into two, battling each other for control. She dug her razor-sharp claws into the stone wall, using them to walk down closer to the water. The awkward position gave the demon a strange spider-like apperance.   
  
When the creature was low enough, it dived head-first into the water, cupping its wings close to its back to prevent damage. It used a snake-like movement to push itself through the water, frantically searching for Arson. She saw his body near the bottom, his eyes shut and his body completely limp and covered with boils and burn marks. Making her way to the bottom, she caught a hold of his body with one clawed hand and swam towards another wall, getting ready to jump above the surface and climb back up the wall in that strange way. As Xyphos hung onto the wall with one arm she looked frantically for some means of escaping the rock cylinder they had found themselves trapped in. The demon thought of only one thing : freedom at any cost.   
  
Hoisting Arson up under her arm, she held out a clawed hand and concentrated on creating a ball of pure energy. A blue light flashed as the ball came into existance, and a terrible explosion followed the instant she violently slammed the ball into the other side of the tower. As the dust following the explosion settled, a large hole leading into a darkened room made itself visible. The demon lauched itself straight into the darkness, holding the body of Arson close to her chest, determined to keep it protected from further harm.  
  
As she landed with a faint click, Xyphos looked about and took in her surroundings. She shut her eyes and bit her lip in pain as her body returned to the human form, and the demon's conscience went back to the corner of her mind from where it had hidden before. When she looked back up, she was her normal self again. 'Or as normal as a person who could become a demon at will would be.' she thought. All of her thoughts came to a halt as she saw her surroundings more throughly. The recognition made her almost stumble.   
  
She stood up with her mouth hanging slightly open like a child's in a candy shop. "This.....this is my street!" she exclaimed, stepping backwards. "There's no way....how did I get back home?" She looked down towards a lone lit streetlight a little ways away from where she stood. The couldn't help but stare at the simple white letter posted on the normal green sign. "My street...! But how.....? Was it....all a dream?" she found to her surprise, that she completely wished that it hadn't been a dream. As she started to stumble towards her house, she tripped roughly and fell hard to the pavement. When she saw Arson's injured body behind her, she knew that without a doubt that everything so far had really happened. Happiness bloomed, but the worry fell.  
  
She instantly got to her feet and shuffled over to him, looking over his body for the numerous injuries. She couldn't see anything lethal, just many boils and cuts, all weeping tiny streams of blood. Sighing with relief, she put her hand on his chest for comfort. But then realized he wasn't breathing at all. "Crap! What happened to him?" she asked no one, trying to remember what had just happened to her. She found that she could barely remember anything that had happened while she had been a demon. She didn't pause to think why it hadn't happened before, but focused on what she could do to help him. "Alright....I remember he fell in water.... and water is deadly to him.." Frantically she thought of what might be wrong with him. "Ah! Drowning....I hope I got him out soon enough..." She was becoming surprised by her own calmness at the situation. "Ok....Health....what did they teach..." she thought fast, glad that she was one of the few who actually payed attention. When the memory caught up with her, she flushed a deep red. "No.....that can't be the only thing.....not CPR..." she groaned.  
  
The orange sun that had been peaking over the houses that dotted the street vanished. The streetlights lit abruptly with a mellow glow. Xyphos and Arson sat in the middle of a long road, in a eerily-normal looking neighborhood. The houses almost all looked the same : small, bright green lawns, the same trees and bushes, the same doors and over-all houses. No cars sped down the night-black roads, nor could Xy hear any cars from other streets. No couples walked silently down the sidewalks, hand in hand. It was deathly silent, and not even owls or bats flew.   
  
Xyphos focused on the task at hand and made no apparent realization of the silent, unmoving night. She mumbled a few reassuring words to herself and took a deep breath. Still blushing up a storm, she leaned down and breathed into Arson's mouth. Pulling away, she took both of her hands and pounded down on his heart, rubbing annd massaging it, trying to coax it to beat again. She did this several more times before Arson shuddered and coughed up a mixture of water and blood. Relieved that it had worked, Xy hid her face from him and sighed in triumph. When she was sure she was a bit less red, she turned to him. "Are you alright?   
  
Arson held up his head with one hand and shuddered involuntarily. "I think so....." he stopped when a fit of coughing started. She waited it out, knowing , and actually feeling, his strength return. "What happened?"   
  
"Well, let's see. You first fell into a pit of water, and I think you started drowning. I transformed into some kind of a... demon I guess... and helped you out. Truthfully, I don't remember much inbetween. When I came to, we were here." she said, purposely skipping the whole CPR procedure she agonizingly went through.  
  
"Oh." was all he said, but he did start blushing a dark red, about as much as Xyphos had turned.  
  
Xy groaned. "You weren't unconcious?"   
  
Arson just shook his head, his dark brown hair covering his even browner eyes, and simply smiled shyly. 


	14. Chapter 14

~Woohoo! Author's note time again. You know you love listening to me whine and go on and on and on.... Anyways, to more important things. Again I must say that I do not claim ownership to anything DMC. I don't own Arson or Dante, but I do own Xyphos. Alcapacien and Maria belong to my friends who they are based off of. Ok, well, I'm still not getting a lot of reviews, and that makes me a sad panda. And yes, I do know some people do review regularly (Quiggles, Sakura Lee, and Bustahead come to mind) and I REALLY appreciate all who do review, even if they've only done it once. You must understand that reviews and having good friends are the only things that keep a writer like me going! ^_^ I'm happy to say I haven't recieved one flame, which would REALLY dampen my spirits. Or be used for my grill. Whichever comes first.  
  
Oh yes, I also failed to mention that Arson belongs to the Master Writer Bustahead! *bows to her* A special thanks also to my bestest friends Aly and Mia...*cough*... I mean Alca and Sakura for always cheering me on and raising my mind-boggingly low self-esteem! =) And a SUPER-ULTRA-BIGGIE-AWESOME-FANTASTIC-TO THE THIRD POWER- thanks to Bustahead for 1. Letting me use her beloved character (well, beloved by me) Arson. And 2. For helping me bunches with each chapter! I don't think they would be half as good as they are (or I hope them to be) if she didn't RP with me everyday! Also go read her stories welps! They're what inspired me to continue this fic....even thought she doesn't know this yet.... but she might if she reads this. o_O Well, on with the show as they say, and leave a review please!~  
  
Chapter Fourteen : Another Twist  
  
"So where are we again?" Dante asked gruffly, brushing dirt and grass from his crimson coat.   
  
"I told you once. We're where me an' Xy live. Can't you just pretend to believe me?" Alcapacien asked in despair.  
  
"Let me think about it....." he said, rubbing his chin. "Uhm......no."  
  
  
  
Alca sighed in frustration. He was just making it more difficult to explain, even though she didn't know much more then he did. 'How did we get here?' Alca wondered silently, looking about her as they sat down on an artisticly sculpted wood bench. The question had plagued her since she had woken up to find herself in a park of some kind. Dante had so politely left her on the dirty ground by herself and walked off to go look at their new surroundings. After dusting herself off and getting the sand out of her shoes, she also got up and looked around. At first she had thought she was in some kind of forest since the park had many large trees, but she knew instantly where she was when she saw the sign where Xy and her would usually meet after school. "Los Angeles City Park." Dante read outloud, shifting his sheathed sword higher on his shoulders. "What the hell are we doing here?" he asked, impatiently tapping his foot as he started pacing in front of the sign.   
  
"As if I know. But I do know exactly where we are. Me an' Xy don't live far from here."  
  
"Your missing the whole point. What happened to Mallet Island?"  
  
"Oh jeez, quit your bellyaching." Alca said with an authoritive voice. "No use worrying about it now right? Don't you think we should go look for the others?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Dante asked uneasily. "I've just never been to Los Angeles before."  
  
"Don't worry, chum. I know exactly where we are. There's just a tiny itsy-bitsy problem."  
  
"And that is?"  
  
Alca rolled her eyes, she had thought it was obvious. "Your sword and guns, idiot. We can't just walk into a city carrying a bunch of weapons!"  
  
Dante just grunted and made it so his coat covered his guns.  
  
"That coat of yours won't cover your sword. Hopefully no one's out this late. Let's just get going and make it fast." Alca started walking through some of the trees that crowded the park, following the shortcut that she had discovered one day after school. She hoped no one was out this late at night. There was no way she could think of to weasel out of telling someone why she had a sword and was travelling with such an old looking guy.  
  
"So where ARE we going?" Dante asked as he made to follow her.  
  
"To Xy's house of course."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The night was getting colder and colder. Xy and Arson just stood there silently. Arson's face was still red and his brown eyes were fixed on the ground. Xy stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and fury.   
  
"So..." Xy said finally, "You didn't drown? So I didn't need to do.....that."   
  
Arson scuffed his shoes in the dirt and shook his head. "Well......kinda..." he said, uncertainly.  
  
Xyphos sighed angrily. "I swear....sometimes your impossible."  
  
Arson raised his head and blinked. "It's just that...well....I didn't drown....but I couldn't breathe...and...I was awake...but I couldn't move..."  
  
'Excuses,' Xy angrily thought. "Right.......and you could have healed yourself without my help, right?" 'I can't believe he didn't say anything to me to stop me....or something...' Xy continued to think as she wached Arson's display of helpless shyness.  
  
Arson just shook his head shyly again and looked back towards the floor. His soft brown hair fell into his eyes, giving him a innocent child-like apperance. "I'm sorry..." he said honestly. Xyphos's eyes softened as she realized he meant every word.   
  
Xy turned her back to him to hide the incoming blush. "Well......I'm just your okay. I wouldn't have wanted you to die on me..." she said, trying to not get all emotional. She hated doing that.  
  
Arson raised his head again in surprise. "But....I thought you hated me..."  
  
Xyphos almost fell over with surprise. "Geez...I was cold to him wasn't I...?' she thought. She always thought it was wierd; she hated being emotional, but she also hated being cold to people. "I never hated you..." she had to stop because of fit of chuckling overcame her. "....But you did annoy me a couple of times. I'm sorry if I was cold to you....I really didn't mean it. I can just be that way sometimes." she shrugged casually.  
  
Arson blushed and smiled, softly joining with Xyphos's laughter. "It's...it's okay..." He stopped and looked around, his face still a deep red. "Um.....where are we?"  
  
Xyphos looked around too before answering, the fimiliarity of it comforting after being in a strange world for so long. "Los Angeles my friend. This is my street..... my house is about a block away. I think we should get moving before it gets really late."  
  
He looked startled at this. "Los Angeles? Wow.....I've never been to America before....just England....but..." he paused, and blushed a even deeper red, if that was possible. "Where am I gonna stay?"  
  
Xy sighed again and thought. "Well, you can stay in my house of course...guest room's full though....well...I guess you could sleep in my room. It's not too messy in there."   
  
Arson's eyes widened and he blinked while looking at her. "I couldn't possibly..."  
  
Xy laughed. "We can't just let you sleep outside, it gets really cold. And I don't have any money for some fancy hotel room, and there arn't any around here for miles. I'm sure I can smuggle you into my room somehow. It seems pretty late now.....I'm sure my parents are asleep. We'll just have to make sure no one sees you."  
  
Arson looked suddenly nervous and frowned at Xyphos worridly, looking around hopelessly. "B-b-but.." Arson didn't finish, but lasped into silence.  
  
Xyphos turned to face him again, looked confused. "What's wrong? It's okay with you, right? I don't mind, and hopefully my parents won't either.."  
  
He smiled nervously as she watched him blush more. 'He must be really embarrassed....' she kept thinking silently. Arson made no fight against the decision, but gently nodded his head, causing his hair to flop back into his eyes. Xy shook her head and laughed. "Come on now! There's no need to be nervous." Xy said, feeling very sisterly to him all of a sudden. "You'll just have to remember some simple stuff while your there. Mostly it's this: when you meet my parents, you can't tell them the obvious stuff. Do NOT tell them your a demon, or Dante is, and don't do anything stupid. Don't use your powers either....I really wouldn't like my house burned down." Arson blushed again when she said this.   
  
"I...I think I can do that..." he said with growing courage.  
  
"Oh....one more thing. Don't take your weapons out or anything. And don't turn into a demon. I'm talking obvious stuff here. So just play nice, okay?"  
  
Arson chuckled softly. "Alright."  
  
Xyphos and Arson walked in silence down the poorly lit street. Xy stopped in front of s dark blue house, with a quaint little porch out in front and a crimson door. The backyard was surrounded by a stained brown fence. Arson looked up and down the house in curiousity, while Xy checked to make sure no lights were on. "Well, how am I going to smuggle you in....?" Xy asked herself, running a finger up and down the blade on her back.  
  
"Smuggle? Why do you have to smuggle me in?" Arson asked confused.  
  
"So my parents don't see you. They'd get really suspicious if they knew I was letting a guy sleep in my room." This caused Arson to blush yet again. "There's really no other way to do this. You'll just have to be extra quiet." She started digging into the pockets of her navy blue jeans, finally taking out a simple silver housekey. Silently she slipped up to the door dragging Arson by the arm behind her. A low 'click' came from the door and made a low creaking sound as Xy opened it. Pushing a curious Arson inside, she closed the door and locked it back up again. "Just follow me." Xy whispered as she caught a hold of Arson's arm and led him up the stairs next to the door. There were no hallway lights adorning the walls of her house, so she had to navigate by memory, which wasn't at all hard of course. She felt a small span of happiness - after spending what seemed like years in a moldy old castle, it was great to be back home. It surprised her to remember that she had never once felt homesick when she was gone. It surprised her even more when she actually started thinking about the situation as she walked down those dark hallways leading Arson by the hand.  
  
'I never thought of it before now.....but when you really do think about it, it's unbelievable! I mean...a while ago I was inside the world of my favorite game, and now I'm back home leading a fictional character, who I might add is a demon, through my house!' she thought and then sighed in sheer confusion. 'This goes against all physics that I know of....... and it's a lot more deeper then it appears to be.' She grunted in pain as she banged her foot against a door. 'And it's obviously not a dream, since you don't feel pain in dreams.' Arson froze and dragged Xy back again as he heard some rustling. Just as he had suspected, a woman of fairly middle age with tumbling curly brown hair shuffled out of a room into a room across it. Xy froze as she squinted against the light as her mom went into the bathroom and turned on the light. Xyphos nodded a thanks to Arson as the door closed behind her mother. Quickening her pace, Xy ran into the room at the end of the hall, and quickly closed and locked the door, careful to make it silent. She leaned against the door panting in relief. "That was waaaay too close." she said as Arson looked around Xy's room.   
  
It was painted a darkish purple color, with a pair of dragons painted on one wall. Posters adorned every surface, ranging from bands to video game advertisements. A oak desk sat in one corner, with a computer and lamp sitting on it. "Not much is it?" Xy said as she hopped onto her blue-covered bed. "But I love it."   
  
"Hey....that looks like Dante..." Arson said as he stared at one wall. Xy panicked as she ran over to it and ripped the poster down. She shook a bit nervously. "Oh...it....uh....wasn't...just some guy that looked like him...ya know....heh."  
  
Arson looked skeptical. "So what's 'Devil May Cry'? I know that's the place Dante owns...but why's it on that poster?"  
  
"It's.....a...uhm....band...and yeah... the main singer reminds me of Dante and stuff...." she laughed nervously as she crumpled the paper, opened a window and threw it as hard as she could. The bathroom door creaked open as her mom walked out yawning. Xy quickly turned her light off and pushed Arson behind the door. He frowned as the door bopped his nose as her mom opened it quietly. "I see you're back from your sleepover Xy, dear." Xy's mom said happily as she scooped her into a hug.   
  
"Sleepover? Yeah.....sorry...uh...that I didn't tell you." Xy smiled as she pulled away and tried moving the door so it wouldn't hit Arson again. Xy's mom yawned as she leaned into the door. Arson tried not to move or voice his pain.   
  
"What's behind this door...?" Xy's mom said as she closed the door behind her.... only to freeze as she saw Arson rubbing his nose in pain. Surprisingly Xy's mom just laughed. "Hiding boys from us already dear?"  
  
Xy's face turned a dark crimson as she frowned at her mom. "No mom! He's just a friend! Don't you start getting the wrong idea!"  
  
Her mom had already scurried down the hall towards another door while Xy stood there fuming. She came back with a blanket and pillow. "Here you go dear." she said as she handed the things to a obviously confused-and-embarrassed Arson. He mumbled a thanks as he sat on the ground looking throughly confused at Xy. Xy's mom smiled as she yawned again. "No funny stuff tonight kids." she said, grinning ear to ear, as she left a very red Xyphos and Arson behind her.  
  
"So......you want to sleep on the bed?" Xy said after her mom had gone back to bed.  
  
Arson blushed as was his custom and shook his head. "No......where would YOU sleep?"  
  
She shrugged. "I can always sleep on the floor."  
  
"That's not fair though.....this is YOUR house."  
  
"Cheer up chum! You are the guest, and the guest must always be comfortable! Just....don't burn the blankets." she answered with a sly grin.  
  
He pouted and glared at her. "I refuse to kick you out of your own bed....besides...the covers are pink..."  
  
"Hey! They're not pink. They're red. They're just been washed a few too many times. Anyways, it doesn't matter. I'm tired from all this frantic running around and I'm happy to have a nice place to sleep for once. Just pretend the covers are blue or something."  
  
Arson became silent and sat down on the bed and ran his hand up and down the edge. He hadn't been far off, the covers and sheets were a light-toned "red". It was a very large bed, her parents had used it before they had married and got an even bigger one. The frame was a normal brown wood, but on it were carved complicated designs, most of the a kind of Celtic cross.   
  
"Well I don't want to kick you out of the bed....and it LOOKS big enough...so...uhh...." he paused for a second and continued blushing, looking down to the floor. Xyphos cocked her head to one side looking at him curiously. Sure, she was very intellegent, but sometimes just unbelievably slow to catch on.  
  
"So uh what?" she asked, wondering what he was thinking.  
  
He turned his back to her and rubbed a wrist with a hand and practically whispered his answer. "How about sharing?"  
  
Xy's eyes widened with understanding and she blushed once again. 'I think I know where this is going....' she thought. "You mean the bed?"  
  
Even those his back was turned to her, she could feel his embarressment as he nodded. "Y..yeah..."  
  
"And this is okay with you....?"  
  
".....if it is with you..." he shivered almost as though cold and he looked at the opposite wall blankly.  
  
Xyphos scratched the back of her head in complete surprise and embaressment. "Uh...sure!"  
  
Arson smiled shyly and climbed into the bed, motioning for her to follow. She did so and shrank under the covers to hide her red face. The ONLY time she had ever slept in the same bed with someone else was on those stormy nights when she would go cuddle up with her parents.... or the time after her brother had died when she had been there to grieve with her parents....  
  
"Hopefully my mom won't come back in here...." Xy finally said after the lights had been turned out. Her voice was muffled slightly by the covers. "She always gets the wrong idea about EVERYTHING."  
  
  
  
Arson smiled sleepily as he turned his back to her. "Hey....Xy?"   
  
Xy yawned loudly before she answered. "What?"  
  
"What did your Mom mean by funny business?"  
  
If Xy had been standing up she would have fallen over. She had thought it was obvious...and she really hated her mom's jokes about things like that. "She meant...ya know....sleeping together...the other way..." 'He's just too damn innocent...' a voice said to her.  
  
"Oh....um...well....we've both got clothes on so I don't think she'll mind?" Xy had to stop herself from shouting "HOLY CRAP!" Arson should could say some very unexpected things.  
  
"Err....I guess you could put it that way...."  
  
He smiled tiredly as he shrank down more into the covers. "Good night Xy...and thanks..."  
  
Xy grinned as she felt his body relax. "Anytime Arson...anytime..."  
  
'This is too wierd.' she started to think as she heard Arson breathe quietly. 'For one thing, I've always hated guys... they always seem to be so full of themselves. And I've never been a "touchy-feely" person...but here I am, in the same room with a guy, in the same bed. This has just gotten....too strange. To make it even more unbelievable.... he's a fictional person. I mean hours...days more like it.... I was transported to a fictional world, full of fictional characters and fictional monsters. And I was transported there by a ring. I know I'm superstitious....but this is rediculous....' Xyphos turned her back to Arson and frowned at the two dragons on her wall, eternally locked in battle. She felt like that was what her mind was doing now....fighting with reality. 'I feel like I'm taking all of this too lightly....it seems like some kind of fantastic dream...something I never want to wake up from. I mean, I would think anyone else in my place would freak out completely....but here I am, falling asleep in my own house with a technically non-real person. Jeezus.....and it defies everything I've worked so hard in Science to learn and remember. And I STILL haven't found out how we even got back to my own world....I just hope Arson being here won't disrupt any kind of "balance" or something....' She listened as an owl hooted outside her window, oblivious to her inner conflict, that was giving her a killer headache. 'And now I'm actually starting to really care about my favorite character's grandson. Maybe obsession has made me insane and I'm in some nuthouse outside L.A. living inside my own head?' She had to keep herself from giggling at the absurdity of it.  
  
While in the middle of her web of thoughts, she felt Arson suddenly wrap his arms around her and nuzzle against her back. She immediately froze, feeling the unexpected touch. There were a couple of things he hadn't told her....and one of these things was his little "night-time problem". When he slept, he liked being near people or something else, like a stuffed animal or some kind of cuddly toy. Later on Xy had silently wished he had told her this sooner. Arson got a dopey smile on his face as he nuzzled against her frozen back and settled down again. Silently looking at the wall with its fighting dragons, she calmed her nerves and eventually relaxed in his arms. She was surprised at herself though....she had always hated touching like this....it made her feel violated. 'Maybe you care for him more then you originally thought...? a voice said but she silently laughed. 'Yeah, I'm sure that's it.' she told the voice as she rolled her eyes. Arson slept on, oblivious to her silent arguement with that same goofy grin on his face, looking quite stupidly cute.   
  
'Maybe I should push him off? .....na, that's just plain mean. I'm way too tense.....' She unhooked his arms from her waist and gently lifted herself off the bed, tip-toeing to the bathroom. Turned the light on made her squint, and the bright violet purple of the bathroom didn't help her dark-adjusted eyes. She turned on the faucet with a slightly trembling hand, and splashed at her face with cold water, looking at herself in the mirror. "How come I didn't notice these cuts before...?" not waiting for an answer from no one, she gently dapped at the wounds with a warm cloth. After yawning several times, drying herself off, and running into the door, she got back only to find a kicking and screaming Arson on the bed. The covers had been thrown across the room, casting eerie shadows on the wall as Arson had a internal struggle. She froze, not knowing what to do. He quieted down and whimpered pitifully. "No....no stop...please...please...." He went back to screaming and tossing again. Xy rushed over to the bed, holding him down and shaking him back and forth, trying to deperately wake him up. He cried out in dispair one last time, loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood and causing Xy's ears to ring, before awaking in a hot sweat and collapsing into Xy's arm pitifully.  
  
  
  
Xy hugged him in a embrace of relief and pity. "Are you okay Arson?"  
  
He only shivered in answer, but froze when the doorbell echoed loudly over and over again.  
  
"Wait here for me." Xy said as she got up and ran downstairs. She didn't like leaving him alone after that incident, but she saw her mom come out and knew her mom could comfort him better then she could. Her mom walked over and watched Xy race downstairs. She walked into Xy's room, only to find a shivering and lonely Arson on the bed, staring at the ground. Xy's mom walked over and looked down at him with concern. "You poor dear.....what's wrong?"  
  
Arson tried to smile but failed, shivering lightly as a tear trickeled down his face from the memory. "I..it's nothing....I'm fine..."  
  
"Will you be okay, then?"  
  
He didn't answer immediately, but instead leaned against her and covered his face up. "I'm sorry.....I'm so sorry...."  
  
* * * * *  
  
".....I think they would have heard by now..."  
  
"I'm sure they did after you pressed the doorbell 20 times..."  
  
"Me? That was YOU."  
  
Alcapacien snorted indignitly. "I only pressed it 5 times." Dante glared at her as she shrugged. "Hey, don't give me that look, bub."  
  
"...Geez...how long does it take to answer the door?" he asked himself, impatiently tapping his foot.  
  
"Well, I assume they're all asleep because it is in the middle of the night....imbecile..."  
  
"Your a really annoying kid, ya know that?"  
  
  
  
"And your a really annoying senile old man."  
  
Dante sighed and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and smirking. "Your such a annoying son-of-a--"   
  
"XY!" Alca interrupted as Xyphos opened the door yawning.  
  
"Sure took long enough," Dante growled as he hated being interrupted.  
  
Xyphos frowned up at Dante. "I could have just NOT answered the door....I'm not a slave you know."  
  
Dante pushed her aside, laughing as he strode into the hallway. "You wouldn't dare. Now where the hell is HE?"   
  
"Cocky bastard..." Xyphos mumbled. "Arson's upstairs Mr. High-and-Mighty. Please, do come in." she said, rolling her eyes and locking the door behind Alca.   
  
  
  
Dante ignored her of course. "....No skulls? I thought you were a Hunter..." he said, looking about.  
  
"Errr.....right..." Xy feel back next to Alca. "How the hell did you stand being near him for so long?" she whispered.  
  
Alca sighed dramatically. "It wasn't easy.... it makes me wonder how you can worship him like that."  
  
Xy frowned more deeply then before. "Do not say that EVER again....I don't want to know how he'd act if he knew....Anyways," she said, starting to talk normally, "I find skulls and blood to be horribly....morbid. I don't think I'd even consider putting them on my walls."  
  
Dante just laughed somewhat mockingly and shrugged. "Figures..."  
  
Arson shivered and buried his head in his knees. His voice is incredibly muffled but he says something that sounds like "Mother" to Xy's mom. She put a comforting hand on his back as she heard a unfamiliar laughter coming from downstairs, wondering just what Xyphos was doing down there. Arson blinked and looked up quickly as he heard the oddly comforting and familiar laugh.  
  
"Would you please keep it down?" Xy asked, becoming a little nervous. It wasn't everyday she had her hero in her house....as fictional as he may be. Even though he was a real bastard sometimes....but Xy just tried to ignore that fact. Ya know....constantly. 


	15. Chapter 15

(Author's Note : Here I am with another chappy! WOOHOO! That's sorta of surprising since I'm a very slow writer. Well, just wanted to say that there will be some...lets say...lovey-dovey parts soon ahead so if you hate that kinda stuff I recommend you turn back lest you be sickened with the cornyness of it all.....even though I rather enjoy it if I do say so myelf! ^_^   
  
Might as well go ahead and add that I STILL don't own Dante, anything else DMC, or Arson. Arson belongs to Bustahead, who gave me permission to use him in my horribly-bad ficcy. =P Oh yes, and for some shameless advertising! Go visit my dear friend's bio and read her stories! Her pen name is Alcapacien/Quiggles. You know I'll love you if you do! Please, if your going to read my story take a couple of extra seconds and review! Hmm....anything else I need to add...? Oh yes! One more thing. If you go to fictionpress.net and search for the pen name Arcane Seraphim you can go and read an original story of mine. ((Even though there's only one chappy so far)) Review that too if your gonna waste time reading it. ^_^ Oh, and thanks to all reviews so far! Now please, read on!)  
  
Chapter Fifteen : Chaos Ensues  
  
"MY EFFING FOOT!" A cry erupted from the kitchen as Xy sat on the couch, flicking through the channels. Sighing, she got up only to start chuckling. It seems her toaster had found its way to Dante's foot.   
  
"Try to be more careful about dropping my toaster, alright? I need it to make toast." She tried hiding her face with a hand so he didn't see her chuckling and get even more angry.  
  
  
  
"I DIDN'T DROP THE DAMN THING, IT FELL ON MY FOOT!"   
  
"Ok.....whatever." She replied with a delightful grin, picking up the dented toaster and placing it on the counter again. "And please if you will, keep your voice DOWN."  
  
  
  
  
  
'What am I doing here...? I don't belong....I don't deserve all this hospitality. I don't deserve this love....and care. A curse should never get these things....a curse should be dealt with...' I could only shake my head sadly as the comforting hand was placed on my back. And yet I couldn't help but flinch at it. What was I doing here, being taken care of like this? 'Only a curse....a curse to be dealt with!' a voice echoed in my head. The familiarity of it made fear grip my heart. I could only let out a pitiful "Mother..." before I couldn't stand it any longer. I needed to be alone! Alone...like a curse should be! My senses pricked up as I heard a laugh from a memory. 'Dante?' I shook my head to answer my own question. 'Why would he come here...? ....not for me.' I had to get out of here! I couldn't stand it any longer!   
  
Arson sprung up from the bed, turning to look at Xy's confused mom. He bowed slightly and muttered a quick "Thanks" before running downstairs. He focused his attention on the ground as he headed out of the normal-looking house. Looking back once, he sighed pitifully and walked down the road alone.....like a curse should be.  
  
Hearing the door slam, Xy turned to see the front door slightly ajar, with a soft breeze wafting in. Thinking she had defintly locked it, she closed it without a second thought. Xy's mom came down at the moment, looking throughly perplexed. "What was all that crashing and screaming about?" she asked sincerly, placing her usual smile on her face.  
  
"Uhh....mom....meet...uhm...our new neighbor?" Xy said thinking on her feet, as Dante just happened to waltz in the room at the moment.  
  
"Well, hello!" her mom said cheerfully, grinning and shaking Dante's hand, who was putting a suave face on.  
  
"Hello um....?"  
  
"Oh! You can call me Darlia. And you are?"  
  
"Dante Sparda."  
  
"Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr.Sparda! I'm sure you'll love it here." she smiled more broadly, even bowing a little.  
  
"Please, call me Dante. Your daughter was just so politely offering me some refreshments...I've been touring the new town you see."  
  
Darlia ruffeled Xy's hair. "That's so nice of her! Please help yourself to anything while your here. Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Xyphos, your friend left just a bit ago. He didn't so where he went....but I assumed he had gone back home."  
  
Dante's eyes widened as he heard the news. He quickly grabbed his sword, which he had leaned next to the front door. He ran outside in a hurry, yelling "ARSON!" loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.  
  
"Did he just say arson?" Darlia asked, throughly confused.  
  
Xy had to keep from laughing...she understood what her mom was thinking. "It's...um....his nickname mom! Everyone calls him that."  
  
Alcapacien happened at this point to come downstairs, stretching and yawning. "What's all the commotion?"  
  
"Seems Arson left. We dunno where he went. I'm going to go help Dante look for him though....can you stay here?"  
  
"Sure.....I wasn't planning on leaving anyways. Not when I have a nice bed to sleep on!" Alca yawned, smiling.  
  
Xy pat Alca on the shoulder as she made her way out. "Thanks, and...uh...tell my mom...something." she added in a whisper. With that, she left the house and caught up to Dante. "WHERE THE EFF ARE YOU ARSON?!" he was calling out as she ran up.  
  
"Where do you think he went? He told me himself he's never been here before." 'He sure seems a bit agitated...' she thought in silence.  
  
"I don't know......"  
  
"Well....he couldn't have gotten far. It's really too late and dark to go anywhere far." she said as Dante paused, and closed his eyes in concentration. After a split second he opened them and again and smiled.  
  
  
  
"Found him." He marched forward quickly, turning to look back at her as she followed. "You should go back. I can find him by myself."  
  
Xy just shook her head impatiently. "Nope. I'm coming too."  
  
  
  
He frowned as he was known often to do. "No...your not. Why do you want to come so badly anyways? He is of no concern to you."  
  
"I'm worried about him, alright?" she told him hesitantly. "I mean...he's out here in the dark and doesn't know his way around."  
  
He shrugged simply. "He'll be fine." His tone was not very comforting. "Has he seemed....depressed lately?"  
  
Xy was shocked a bit by the sudden question. He actually sounded a bit....worried. "Well...yeah. He looked a bit down in the dumps after he woke up a bit earlier."  
  
"Why did he wake up? He should have been asleep 'till morning."  
  
She shrugged. "I dunno why. He sorta of...I dunno...threw a fit? He was tossing and screaming a lot."  
  
Dante frowned slightly. "Oh....really?"  
  
She nodded as she went on. "He kept saying stuff like "No...please.." as if he was talking to someone. Know anything about it?"  
  
"I see...." he looked slightly concerned, confirming Xy's suspicions. "It was a nightmare. Not a fit. And the person he was "talking" to....it was his mother."  
  
"Oh.....I think I understand what your talking about."  
  
He paused again to alter his course as he follows Arson's taint. "He's a troubled kid. He's got all kinds of problems. He's afraid of being left alone sometimes. I think perhaps because he's afraid that she'll rise up from the dead showhow and kill him or something...."  
  
She nodded in acknowledgement. "He told me a little...about his mother."  
  
Dante looked at her sharply in surprise, then looked serious. "He did? Normally he never mentions his family....Don't talk to him about it. Don't ask what he dreamt about. He doesn't like talking to people.  
  
She could only nod and note the seriousness of his voice. "I wasn't going to.....he didn't seem too eager to talk about it anyways, storming out like that." They kept walking in silence, but Dante broke it with a faint "Aha!". He pointed ahead.  
  
"He's up there in that park, sitting on a bench." She sighed with relief....she couldn't believe how worried she had gotten. She ran up ahead to see Arson alone, sitting cross legged staring at the ground absently. Xyphos called out to him happily.   
  
"Arson! You alright?"  
  
He didn't even look up when she called out. "Please.....leave me alone... I just need to be left alone..."  
  
Dante came up behind Xy, who frowned and looked taken aback. "Damned kid.....you've got to pull yourself together already."  
  
Xy fidgeted as she felt out-of-place, and walked off a little ways away, but not before she had seen a slow tear trickle down Arson's face. She walked just out of earshot, and sat on the ground heavily. She wanted to help him...but he didn't want it. She respected his wish of wanting to be alone.  
  
Arson curled up where he sat and hid his face in his knees, his shoulders jerking. Xy could hear Dante yelling loud enough to let her know he was being way too harsh to Arson. She sighed and fiddled with the grass blades. "So much has happened lately..." she flinched as Dante began a whole new fit of yelling. "Wonder why he's so mad..... and damn... he yells LOUD..."  
  
Dante ended his triade soon enough and stalked over to her, looking surprised and baffled. "He says he wants you...."  
  
"Thought he wanted to be alone?"  
  
"Apparently not..." he said, continuing to look confused.  
  
"Well....alright." she said, brushing herself off and walking over to Arson, looking and feeling as confused as Dante. Arson was sobbing into his knees, desperately trying to hide his tears and grief. Xy sat next to him, confused but becoming troubled. "Feeling any better?" She knew perfectly he was becoming broken....she was hoping to fix that. No one had ever had the effect on her that he had, and she felt he needed help more then anything else. Xy felt obligated to give him what he needed.  
  
He didn't look up, nor did she want him to. She could barely contain herself when he was so distressed like this. "I wish I'd die....I just wish I could die..."  
  
She looked at his back with aching pity and concern. "And...why is that?" He suddenly froze at the question, and looked up into her eyes. His usually gleeful brown eyes had become sunken and empty. No more light gleamed in them as it had once before.  
  
"My nightmares....they're all the same...becoming clearer and clearer each and every time...m..my mother..." he stopped again, and his now dull eyes welled up with tears. Xy wrapped a comforting arm around his back. "It's so wierd..." she started, mostly talking to herself, "I've never dreamt about my brother...even the day after he died. But you've had these dreams....no, nightmares....for a long time it seems." Arson turned to her and started to softly sob into her shoulder. She was startled by the sudden movement, but then wrapped both arms around him, not saying anything but letting him release his long built-up emotions. She wished there was some way to cheer him up, and soon. He spoke up again, his voice slightly muffled by her shirt. "I just...hate my life so much...all of this grief...and fear..."  
  
"Come on Arson....it can't be all that bad, can it?"  
  
"You...you don't know what it's like...what she did to me... I didn't tell you about the knife, did I?" Xyphos didn't answer, but only shook her head. "She stabbed me...in my stomach..."   
  
Xy flinched at the thought. "It's hard to believe a mother could do this to their own child....unbelieveable..."  
  
A new wave of sobbing came over him as he struggled with the memory. "It's true....I still have the scar...She wanted me to die...I turned into a demon that day....it still scares me when I do that." He shuddered miserably, and took a deep breath. "She wanted to kill me...and she would have too....But what if she's still out there? Still alive? Sometimes.....sometimes I can still feel her breathing down my neck..." Xy nuzzled against him, trying to be a source of comfort. "God.....I wish I could die.." he continued, still sobbing shamelessly against her. "...there's nothing left for me here.."   
  
"Don't say that Arson....you know it's not true."  
  
He looked up at her, his vision blinded by tears. "What is there for me here? Nothing but sorrow and pain...I'm..I'm a curse and incapable of anything else...." He lowered his head back down, as if the grief was a physical weight on him.   
  
"Your not a curse! I don't know where you got that idea. Think of all the people who would be sad if you died..." she faltered, trying to find the right words. "I...I would..."  
  
It happened so fast that neither of them knew how it happened. Arson had mumbled a faint "Xy..." before he found his lips touching her own as they kissed on that bench in the L.A. state park. It seemed all went silent as it happened, and neither seemed to not be enjoying their own romantic moment. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: "I Knew I should've Gotten Rid Of That Plushie...."  
  
Arson gasped and pulled away, blushing furiously and fidgeting with embarrassment. "Xy...I'm...I'm sorry..."  
  
Xy couldn't help but be shocked about what was happening. She had NEVER seen it coming. She was too embarrassed to even look at him, so she studied the ground. "There's no need...to a..apologize..."  
  
He looked up at as though studying her. He doesn't say a single word but just sits there watching her. She wanted so badly to get up and leave there and then. It's not that she was disturbed by this. Actually, it was the exact opposite. She had enjoyed that kiss.... amazingly. Xy had always hated gushy romance stuff....but she felt like she could have stayed like that forever. But his presence was too much right now, it was like a weight on her shoulders. But it was that same weight that kept her on the bench.  
  
"Xy...." he at length breathed out, brushing away a stray strand of midnight-black hair from her face. She still didn't have it in her to look up at him. She continued to stare at her feet blankly. Arson gently tilted her head up so that she was looking straight into his eyes. Those calm, brown eyes....she felt like she was drowning in them. "Xy...I...just noticed something..."  
  
She barely managed to whisper. ".....what?"  
  
He smiled, his eyes lighting up. "You're so...beautiful...." Xy shook her head modestly, having a red face all the while.  
  
"No I'm not...." Arson smiled again and nodded. He bent over closer to her, and captured her lips in a deep kiss, closing his eyes as he did so, blushing madly. Xy couldn't believe the first time it had happened...but now it was again! This was turning into a very sappy teen romance novel....and she was enjoying every minute of it. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She thought it would never end, but sadly it did sooner then she wanted it to. Arson pulled away slightly and looked at Xyphos with a strange look in his eyes....was it doubt? Suspicion? Or curiosity?   
  
"If I left...for good...would you really be sad? Or...did you just say that?"  
  
She grinned at the sudden question, nodding. "Yeah...I'd be really sad....devastated if you ever left me..."  
  
"In that case..." he said, smiling, feeling the dark memory of his dream dissappearing, "..I would hate if I were the cause of any pain you may feel....I'll..I'll stay...for you." She couldn't think of anything to say...truthfully, she didn't know why he was talking about "leaving"...but she was happy he would stay with her. She nuzzled into him, smiling in complete bliss.   
  
"Thank you."  
  
Arson smiled and kissed her on the cheek, but shivered slightly as the temperature dropped noticeably. "Xy....I'm s-sorry..about earlier.."  
  
"It's fine...I'm just relieaved your all right..."  
  
He shivered again. "We should really head back now...it's getting cold.."  
  
"Yeah....should we go get Dante?" Arson nodded quietly as they got up. Dante watched them both come up, a knowing smirk on his face, but not saying anything. "Shall we go back to my house then?"  
  
Dante didn't say anything, but carried on smirking at them both. Arson nodded again and blushed at the look on Dante's face.   
  
Darlia sat on the couch, watching the clock and tapping her foot impatiently. Where could they have gone for so long? And why were there suddenly new neighbors? She hadn't seen a moving truck or a 'For Sale' sign anywhere. She sighed. "No use thinking about it now. They seem nice enough...and Xy finally has a new friend. He's quite a polite boy too." She grinned at no one in particular as she paced in front of the clock.  
  
Arson walked in first only to be scooped up into a hug by Xy's mom.   
  
"I'm so glad your back and well, dear! I've been worried sick!"  
  
He blushed furiously but then smiled as he quite liked being hugged like this. "I'm sorry I worried you Ma'am..."  
  
"That's quite alright dear! It's great to see everyone's well, happy, and in one piece!"  
  
"Arson....move." Dante said as he shoved him from the doorway so he could get in.   
  
Darlia smiled even more broadly. "Good to see you back too!"  
  
Dante smiled at her, but glared as he turned to Arson. "Arson, you should get back to bed. Dumbass..."  
  
Xy's mom frowned slightly at his language and at this wierd name, "Arson". She regained her smile fast enough and nodded. "Xy, tell me if either one of you need anything. I'm sure you guys will need a place to sleep while your moving in!"  
  
"Yeah...right...thanks mum." Xy said, confused and a little disoriented.  
  
"Go on then...outta here." Dante said, none too nicely. Xy grumbled something that sounded like "Hittin' on my mom..." and sighed as she dragged Arson back upstairs, reluctantly leaving Dante and her mom alone.  
  
"AND NO FUNNY BUISNESS!" Dante yelled up the staircase, laughing.   
  
Xy blushed and grumbled. "He has some nerve I'll tell ya...."  
  
  
  
"Funny buisness?" Arson asked, confused. "Oh......OH!"  
  
"I could say the same to him...hitting on my mom like that..."  
  
Arson shook his head. "I doubt he'd do anything like that."  
  
"I hope your right...pulling moves like that on my mom just after she got divorced..." she sighed in exasperation.  
  
"Your mom's divorced?"  
  
Xy nodded. "Yep....about 3 months ago."  
  
"Oh....I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"Bah, it's fine. I never liked him that much anyways."  
  
Arson stayed silent as he looked about her room before picking up the cover of the game Devil May Cry. "Hnmmm....huh? What's this?"  
  
She snatched it away quickly and threw it under the bed as she realized what it was. "Uhm....trash?"  
  
"It didn't look like trash to me....that guy on the cover looked a lot like Dante too...."  
  
She laughed nervously as she sat down on the bed. "What a...coincidence?"  
  
He smiled innocently. "Why are you so nervous?" He sat down beside her but then got up again. "Is it me?" She shook her head roughly and glanced at the ceiling, making a note to herself to never take them to any kind of store.... she wouldn't want Dante to get an even BIGGER ego.  
  
"No, it's not that..."  
  
"Oh....well...alright....Xy...I'm sorry if I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable earlier on...I just got carried away I guess...you made me feel a lot better though.."  
  
"It's fine Arson. I don't know how to say this...but I...uh...enjoyed it." She blushed as he sat down on the bed.  
  
"Oh...." He suddenly realized how close his face was to hers and started blushing too.  
  
"Maybe we should...uh...get back to sleep? We'll need our strength...for...uh...whatever we're doing tomorrow."  
  
"And what ARE we going to do tomorrow?"  
  
Xy mumbled to herself. "I don't know....I can't take them anywhere....someone might recognize Dante I guess...."  
  
"Huh? Pardon?"  
  
  
  
"Oh...nothing. I usually do chores in the morning....but....wait. Isn't today Sunday?"  
  
"Yep." Arson nodded. "Tomorrow's Monday."  
  
"Well...crap."  
  
"Why, what's wrong?"  
  
"School's tomorrow...."  
  
Arson thought for a minute before responding. "Oh...well, I'll just stay here I guess..."  
  
Xy snorted. "I couldn't just leave you here by yourself. Besides, my mom will wonder why your staying here...and she might get ideas."  
  
"Sure you could! What, afraid of me burning down the house?"  
  
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, that's it Arson."  
  
  
  
"Well, Dante's going to be here too, right?"  
  
Xy fell onto her back on the bed. "I really don't want to leave him here....."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Why not? Are you kidding! I don't trust him alone in my house..... 'specially after he dropped my toaster. And I don't want to leave him alone with my mom here."  
  
"Why would he do anything to your mom? Those two are getting on great..." he answered and smiled childishly. She stared back at him, dumbfounded. He looked suddenly worried at the she gave him. "What?"  
  
"Nothing...nothing. My mom's working tomorrow so that wouldn't matter. Anyways, I don't feel comfortable leaving you two here alone. Ecspecially since you've never been here before." Xyphos sighed as she realized they didn't have many choices.  
  
"Your mom can take Gran'pa to work with her I guess....I can always walk around town...or something. What do you think we should do?"  
  
Xy grinned evilly. "I can ditch school." Arson looked alarmed and shook his head.  
  
"No way! You can't do that! Look...I could always go with you.... as a transfer student or something."  
  
"Transfer student?" The thought had never occured to her, and she didn't think it would work. But it was worth a try. "Yeah, I guess." She shut off the lights and crawled in bed under the covers. "Well then, we better rest up for tomorrow." she said, scooting over to make room. To her surprise Arson sat down on the floor and curled up, hugging his legs to his chest. Xy sighed, hadn't they already gone over that it was fine if he slept beside her? Besides, he would be cold without any blankets. Xy sighed and peeked over the edge of the bed. "You don't have to sleep down there....besides... my room is infested with bugs."  
  
"Really?" he asked, before quickly clambering onto the bed and curling up at the end of the bed like a puppy. She sighed and smiled, he was just like a little kid.   
  
"Aren't you going to be cold without a blanket?"  
  
He blushed again and shrugged. "I guess...but...it's just I have a kind of tendency to hug things while I sleep...I'd be really embarrassed if I ended up hugging you by mistake..."  
  
Xy laughed. 'I guess he forgot - or didn't notice - he did it before?' she wondered. "Don't worry, its fine," she said aloud, pulling the sheets back. He clambered up next to her and snatched up the first plushie he could find - for there were a lot of them. But he happened to get her cherished Dante plushie. "What the-?"  
  
"Oh crap...." Xy quickly snatched the plushie away and acted surprised. "Wow.... what's this? It... uh...looks sorta like Dante...what a coincidence!"  
  
Arson scratched his head. "Dante's famous over here, isn't he?"  
  
"Something like that..." She picked out another plushie - a vicious looking dog - and handed it to Arson. "You can have that one," she said, snuggling back into the covers with her Dante plushie at her side. She sighed, thankful that Arson wasn't about to have a nightmare. 'The feel of something beside him must make him not have them....' she thought randomly, before drifting off into sleep. 


	17. Chapter 17

{My god. I just realized I haven't updated for like..... 6 months. I'm sure I've lost every reader I ever had. (Both of them.) Jeez.  
  
I also just noticed how wierd my fic has gotten. I mean, Dante with Xy's mom? Arson going to school when he had been stuck in a video game the day before? No one questioning what the hell is going on? Not even me, the authoress, knowing what the hell is going on? This is what happens when I write fanfics. My first one has become the wierdest thing I've ever written. And I'm loving every minute of it! I've started on chapter eighteen, so don't fret my two readers! ^_^}  
  
Chapter Seventeen : BURN THE SCHOOL! BURN THE SCHOOL!  
  
It was your average beautiful morning. The sun shone brightly, cotton clouds sailed lazily through the bright aqua sky, and everyone was awake in my house. Sometimes that was a bad thing... but because of them, it had gotten quite a bit interesting. I had just finished dressing, (in the bathroom of course, Arson was in my room and I was not about to let ANYONE see me naked) and was trying to convince Arson to burn down my school. My attempts were being unsuccessful. I was wearing clothes I normally did : dark blue worn-out jeans, a necklace with a ying-yang shaped pendant, white and blue-striped tennis shoes, and a dark purple shirt with a nymph on it. I was just starting to learn the demons can be very stubborn.  
  
"Come on! We'll make sure everyone's outside so no one gets hurt! It'll be fun!" I asked in my sweetest voice, trying to conjure a pair of puppy-eyes. It wasn't working very well.  
  
Arson had his back turned to me, and he was looking at the 2 different shirts in his hands. The clothes he had come here with had gotten quite dirty, so I "borrowed" some from a stash of my dad's old clothes and gave them to him. And fortunately for me, I was being given some eye candy. Also known as cute guy not wearing a shirt. But how I do babble on...  
  
He had told me no bluntly a couple of times, but I was determined to get rid of that school. Why you ask? BECAUSE THEY'RE EVIL OF COURSE!  
  
I eventually gave up, sighing and starting to brush my hair. All of this adventure and action had given me a crap load of tangles, so I was constantly wincing. Silence awkwardly filled the room. Eventually he spoke up.  
  
"The blue or the red?"  
  
"Red. It's definitely your color."  
  
Arson looked at it and smiled. "Okay...." He put the shirt on over his head, messing his hair up in the process and making it flop into his eyes. He was so adorable! I tried keeping my cool.  
  
"I wonder what...ow...Dante's gonna do...ow... while we're gone?" Man, sometimes long hair was a major pain.  
  
"I heard your Mom saying something about taking him to work with her."  
  
Now that didn't make much sense. I couldn't see her ever doing that. His charm must've gotten to her... oh, he was good. "Oh....right then." My mom owned a restaurant downtown. It would be interesting to see how she made use of him. "Anyways.... are you sure you want to go to school with me? I mean, I've never known someone to willingly go."  
  
"It's fine. You don't want to leave me here alone, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Well, think you'll need anything for school? I have a bunch of stuff you could borrow."  
  
He turned to me and looked proud. "I have a pen!"  
  
I sighed.  
  
"...oh, and two swords too."  
  
I laughed this time. "Too bad you can't take those to school with ya."  
  
"Sure I can. No one will ever see them." He took out two rusty- looking bars from his pockets and presented them.  
  
"You're telling me swords come out of those dinky things?"  
  
"Yep! They're not dinky though."  
  
"If you say so..." Right after I said that, 2 red beams shot out of the bars. Fire erupted around them and his hands, changing the bars into swords. One was shaped as a dragon, the other a phoenix. Both were very intricate, detailed, and a blood-red color, as if reflecting the blood of anyone they might have slain. I was proven wrong again.  
  
"Damn!"  
  
"Yep!" The swords lit on fire again, changing back into normal bars which he replaced in his pockets. "C'mon, might as well get going now."  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" I picked up my book-bag and ran downstairs, clutching Arson's hand and smiling the whole way. I waved bye to my mom and Dante in the kitchen before rushing out the door.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
I used to hate school, but now it didn't seem so bad. I walked there everyday, alone, but with Arson I actually had someone to talk to. The only friends I really had were Maria and Alca. We were sort of like the 3 Musketeers, or something of that effect. I usually didn't talk often either, and was constantly made fun of. I was pretty used to it though, and most of the time I just never did care what other people thought. I never saw how it affected me. School life for me sounded like your average angsty teenager. Well, now I was an average angsty teenager who was part demon. Or so I had come to believe, in the way I had transformed while fighting the Phantom. Still, having Arson around made that school day quite a bit more interesting then the rest of the year. But he still didn't burn it down like I wanted him to.  
  
We had left Alca at home - she had said she was definitely not ready to go back to school. It seemed the shock of realizing she had just been in a video game had hit her all in one big wave. My mom allowed her to stay as long as she would clean. Alca agreed happily. She used the excuse that she was "sick and her parents wouldn't want her to stay at their house," so my mom welcomed her. Alca added to me in a whisper that she "wanted to leave you two lovebirds alone." Luckily Arson hadn't overheard because I would have had no problem whacking her.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
I walked down the sidewalk with a straight face while Arson walked alongside me quite happily. I kept a composed face but my mind was still focused on last night's events, and I was still very rattled from it. But we were acting like nothing had happened - but I guessed that was natural. I guess I was making a big deal of it, but it HAD been my first kiss and all, so it WAS a big deal to me.  
  
"Hey...you know... does anyone at your school kinda like you?" His voice awoke me from my thoughts.  
  
I couldn't help but stop and laugh hysterically in response. "Someone? Like me? You've got to be kidding. 'Course no one does."  
  
"Ohh....okay."  
  
I paid no mind as he seemed to relax slightly. I hefted my book-bag up higher on my shoulders as we walked on. "I'm going to have to tell everyone why your there. Shouldn't be too hard to make an excuse... you'll just have to act like some sort of exchange student from... somewhere. Hopefully the teachers won't question it too much. Actually, I'm sure they won't. They're too laid-back and lazy for that."  
  
"Okay. So what lessons are we having?"  
  
"Your normal everyday stuff. P.E., Science, Geography, Math, and English. And of course my favorite period - lunch!"  
  
He chuckled as he looked over at me. "And why's that?"  
  
"Food. No learning. No teachers. Plus, I get to talk to my friends, since none of them are in any of my classes. Granted...I only do have 3 friends, including you, but I don't mind. That's why I love lunch."  
  
"Oh come on...we're not that great of friends..."  
  
I grinned and poked his ribs cutely. "Aww...sure we are!" He grinned but said nothing more. Eventually we did reach the school. (It was only a five minute walk, but it always seemed so much longer. Lucky me to live near the school.)  
  
My school was a bit different from most high schools. We had the same teacher teach all of the lessons, so we never had to switch classes. Only one we did change for was P.E., which we just went to the gym for. After P.E., we had lunch, but then went straight back to Mrs. Ore. This was good in some ways, horrible in others. Mostly horrible because I had the meanest, most evil teacher that I had ever known. I swear, if you had cut her throat open, Satan himself would pop out.  
  
She was a heavy woman, who always wore tight clothes. That was not a good match at all. She had honey-brown hair that was kept in a tight bun on the top of her head. Her dark eyes practically glowed hate. She always said she loved children, but I swear she wanted to eat all of us.  
  
Me and Arson slinked in quietly, sitting at the desks in the back. Mrs. Ore looked up once, giving a strange glance at Arson, but she said nothing on the subject. The rest of the class bustled in, chattering and smiling, and sat down. I had gotten out my best friend - my beloved book. Mrs. Ore eventually started teaching, but as usual no one was actually paying attention.  
  
Arson poked me and whispered. Normally I hated when people interrupted my reading, but he was the exception. "Hey...Xy?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why is everyone looking at me?"  
  
"You're so paranoid. Everyone's not looking at you..." I looked up and saw that indeed, EVERYONE was looking at Arson. "Ok...maybe I'm wrong."  
  
Arson cocked an eyebrow at me and looked towards some giggling girls who happened to be sitting right in front of us. He smiled at them, causing them to blush and giggle even more. I glared at them. My worse enemies : the preps. Those girls who were always so friendly, nice, and evil in their own ways. They were always hitting on boys and dating them, and constantly looking for "fresh meat". Maria, Alcapacien, and I had always loathed being near them. We had on several attempts embarrassed them in front of huge groups of people, and we enjoyed every minute of it. They constantly made fun of every girl who wasn't in their little "group", and picked on the boys they thought were "losers". It made me cringe in anger every time I even looked at them.  
  
"Everyone's laughing at me too..."  
  
"No they're not..."  
  
Arson looked at the giggling girls again. "They are..." The girls just blushed and giggled and waved.  
  
I hated to, but I had to tell him the truth. "Because they're trying to flirt with you."  
  
He looked absolutely skeptical. "I doubt it..."  
  
"Why else would they blush and relish attention on you?"  
  
Arson didn't respond and kept quiet for some time. Mrs. Ore carried on droning, while I kept reading my book. I wasn't about to listen to her drawl on and on about something I learned last year. Luckily, she seemed pretty stupid and never noticed me reading the book. She also never seemed to notice that practically no one in the class ever paid attention to her, and that they were always talking and passing notes. Eventually Arson tapped me on the shoulder and smiled when I looked up.  
  
"I got a note!" He sounded positively proud that those girls had given him one. I sighed. My friend was succumbing to the dark pit the preps were digging for him.  
  
The note read as such : 'You're cute. Wanna see a movie with us?'  
  
I shivered at the thought, and frowned. I was NOT about to let those demons take Arson away. "Please...please don't tell me you're going to say yes." I was almost pleading, but tried keeping my voice calm.  
  
"...I don't know....you and me...we're not really...together...are we?" He blinked at me and smiled adorably. I couldn't help but blush a hot red and look back down at my book. I couldn't believe his train of thought though - had he actually forgotten that kiss? And the whole time where we had watched each other's backs in a castle full of demons out for our blood? Didn't that make us more then friends? He watched me steadily as I tried speaking. I was praying that he was unaware of my red face. The preps noticed though. "So?" he asked, intent on an answer.  
  
I laid my head on my desk and sighed. "I dunno...I guess not." Damn! Beaten again.  
  
Arson grinned. "I guess I'll go with them then! It'll be fun!" I was practically at a crying point here. He was being sucked into the abyss. Oh, why him of all people? He was so innocent! I was disheartened as he wrote back to them. But to my surprise, the teacher caught him while he was trying to pass it back. I hoped he could handle this incident.  
  
I banged my head on the desk, making a louder noise then intended. "Idiot...he just had to write back, didn't he?"  
  
Arson smiled as cute as he could as Mrs. Ore walked up to his desk. She scowled at him. "Uh....hello!" He sounded as if he didn't know what he was getting in to. I imagined he didn't.  
  
Mrs. Ore snatched the note away none-too-gently. "I see we have a note-passer here? I don't believe I've seen you before."  
  
He blinked and kept on smiling. "I'm sorry...is it against the rules here?" I wondered what he was playing at. I said nothing as I watched him work his charm  
  
Mrs. Ore wasn't to be swayed so easily. "Yes, it is young man."  
  
"I'm sincerely sorry, Ma'am." The way his face looked now, the childish roundness and his big brown eyes full of happiness made him look sincere. He could use that to his advantage. "I didn't know Ma'am. I'm a transfer student here and I had no idea of the rules. I'm really sorry...honest..." He started to look saddened and got big puppy eyes. I silently applauded: he was good.  
  
She softened slightly as she looked at that adorable helpless face. "But you've still broken a rule...."  
  
"Well...I really didn't know." He lied bluntly this time. "In England they say it's okay, and that's where I'm from." As he said so I noticed he did have a very nice English accent. Odd how I didn't notice before. Or was he faking it?  
  
"Well.....since you're new here I guess I can let it slide....but just this once. Arson grinned thankfully up at her as she started walking away. She turned back and glared at me. "DON'T BANG YOUR HEAD ON THE DESK! YOU COULD GET HURT!" I nodded as I thought that she would never care that I hurt myself. Eventually she got back into her constant monotone speech. I rubbed a temple where a red spot had risen up from me hitting my head on the desk.  
  
"Damn...now my head hurts..." I noticed Arson looked scared as he stared at Mrs. Ore.  
  
I rubbed my forehead, causing an instant headache. "What's wrong?"  
  
"How come she's nasty to you but nice to me?"  
  
I shook my head and shrugged. He dropped it instantly as he smiled at the preps - still looking back at him - and nodded. One of them whispered to him.  
  
"7 o' clock!" Arson nodded and smiled more broadly.  
  
"Wow, the people over here are real friendly!" he said cutely.  
  
I couldn't help but sigh once again with anguish. "They're only nice to you because they're flirting with you." Arson blinked confusedly at me. I completely lost my patience.  
  
"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND FLIRTING?!"  
  
Mrs. Ore happened to hear me yelling. "QUIET DOWN BACK THERE MS. SELEDRAS!" I glared hatred at her, but managed a faint "Yes Ma'am." through clenched teeth. Arson cowered down and looked scared at me. I became depressed as I saw his face, but I said nothing. He looked so scared that even Mrs. Ore noticed.  
  
"You, young man back there!" she grunted, pointing at him with her pointer-thing she used for the overhead. "What's wrong?"  
  
He blinked and looked startled. "Um...n-n-nothing..?" Mrs. Ore shrugged and turned back around, droning on once again. He quickly got up and moved up a desk, looking back once at me. He just "happened" to have sat in between the two preps who were out for him. I was distressed as I saw the face he gave me - it looked oddly surprised, sad, and scared. I couldn't help but feel jealous as they talked to him - giggling, smiling. It made me want to kill them and dance on their bodies. (Sometimes I can be very morbid.) The preps laughed as they talked to him.  
  
"You're so cute..."  
  
"Yeah...you going to move here permanently?" Arson just smiled at their attention.  
  
I stared at him and sighed. "Being left behind again....what a good friend he is." I was startled as I saw the two girls slyly wrap an arm around him, and he looked about as startled as me. Poor guy. He didn't even understand what they were doing.  
  
He stuttered ashamedly as he spoke. "U-um...s-so what movie are we seeing?"  
  
They giggled and batted their eyelashes. "Does it matter?  
  
"I doubt we'll see much of the movie anyways..." One of them started playing with his hair as Mrs. Ore droned on absentmindedly. Arson looked back at me with a pleading look in his eyes. I grinned and mouthed at him. 'You deserve it for abandoning me like that.'  
  
He laughed nervously and blushed. "W-what do you m-mean?"  
  
They smiled and both planted a kiss on his cheeks. I felt fire dance in my eyes as I watched them, and I had to restrain myself from tackling both of them. Arson jumped out of his seat and stood up at the unexpected kisses. His face was a face of pure surprise and embarrassment. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ore noticed he had jumped up.  
  
"What's wrong this time?"  
  
Arson looked at the ground quickly as he shuffled his feet. "Um....could I go to the bathroom?" Mrs. Ore nodded, and before she could even say anything else he had ran out the door. My heart went out to him as I saw the class start to giggle and crack jokes about him. 


	18. Chapter 18

{{Authoress' Note : Woo! Love is in the air! Yeah! I suppose you guys have figured out that I love romance. I love all that mushy stuff. Except romance novels. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. I'm not sure why though. On a side note I'm hoping this fic isn't too confusing. I mean, it's the first time I've actually made a serious attempt to write a fanfic. I find it sort of hard because I could only work within certain boundries, (that being the environment of the DMC game). That's why I decided to take them outside the game. And I explained before why I had a love thing going on in the fic. I couldn't help it....I love romance. It's just so sweet. Darn all these Yuu Watase mangas. Thay're making me all soft.  
  
I really love using Arson. He's so adorable to me. I love the fact that he's very childlike and immature, but can be almost as serious as Dante (Ya know...when he's actually being serious) and can act very mature, so his personality goes nice with Xyphos'. (Or in my opinion it does.) I'm so proud that I got 2 chapters actually finished in the same week! It makes me really happy.   
  
I like to look back and think, "Man, this fic was never supposed to be this long!" But with Bustahead's help, (If you don't know by now, she's a great author and friend of mine) I decided to continue it. It was fun doing the character swap too. I just wonder how I'm gonna have this story end. Or when will it? I have other stories that need to be worked on too, ya know! =P I keep talking as though it's ending now. FEAR NOT READERS! It probably won't end soon. (I have a bad habit of making things go on...and on.... and on.... as you probably have found out.) I have a nice ending planned out that I eventually will get to. AND YES THIS DOES HAVE A PLOT! AND A POINT! Well.....maybe not so much the point....oh....I'll be quiet now. Just keep reading and you'll see what happens to our star-crossed lovers. (Oh, and Dante too. XD)}}  
  
Chapter Eighteen : The Angel Descends  
  
Xy flinched as a yell echoed through the hallways. She shook her head with a little smile on her face. "Forgot the fire demon thing....all we have in this school is cold water."  
  
Arson walked back in the class, looking sullen and said. He sat down with a sigh as the preps, or otherwise known as the "Giggling Girls" began cooing and playing with his hair again. Without warning, he stood up abruptly. "KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"  
  
Mrs. Ore, being the meanie that she is, yelled. "I SAID STOP YELLING! THAT MEANS SHUT UP!" Arson glared at her, his eyes turning a faint tinge of red turning to a coal black. Even with the many brown bangs in front of his eyes, Xy could see the change. Anyone could. She knew instantly what was happening. He was getting mad. Real mad. Pissed, even.  
  
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF HAVING MY HAIR PULLED! SO JUST QUIT IT!"  
  
Mrs. Ore began making the matter worse. She seemed to not notice that his eyes were coal black at the time, and a faint red aura surrounded him. Or maybe the others couldn't see the change? Xy wasn't sure, but she figured he was about to explode at any moment. She didn't realize he could get so angry so quick. The aura began to get brighter. Xy decided she had to get him out of here, fast. Getting up, she put her hands on his shoulders reassuringly. "Calm down, alright?"  
  
His shoulders jerked, and for one second she was afraid he was going to lash out at her. To her relief, he sighed, plopping down in his chair. The aura has dissipated, and his eyes had gone to their normal brown. He looked pathetic, and weak. Resting his head his in his hands, he shivered as if from severe cold. "I'm sorry...." he whispered, his eyes on the ground, looking very upset. Xy shook her head and smiled.  
  
"Let's get out of here."  
  
Grabbing his hand and putting the other on his back, she walked him to the door. But of course, Mrs. Ore hadn't finished.  
  
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU KIDS ARE GOING?!" she sputtered, her fat pig face turning bright red. "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK OUT AFTER YELLING AND DISRESPECTING ME?!"  
  
Xy turned, giving her sweetest smile to her teacher. She knew she would regret this later, but right now it didn't care.  
  
In her sweetest voice, Xy said her sweetest victory. "Ya know what Mrs. Ore? Screw off." From the corner of her eye, Xy saw Arson give a little smile. Turning her back on the teacher, she lead Arson out of the classroom and eventually away from the school.  
  
"See? School wasn't that bad was it?" she said cheerfully. "Too bad I won't be able to go back for a while. Oh well..... that Mrs. Ore had it coming."  
  
Arson said nothing, but did smile again and nodded. Xy smiled as she found herself in front of her house. "Good thing my mom's at work, eh?" After fumbling through her blue jean's pockets for her key, they made their way inside and up the stairs to Xy's room. Xy sat Arson on the bed and got a out a chair and sat across from him. She gave him a hard stare, and after thinking for a minute opened her mouth.  
  
"So what was that? Why did you get the aura? I had a clue but..." she stopped, fumbling for words. Arson looked sort of ashamed, and didn't look her in the eye. "No answer? Well..... are you going to go with those girls?"  
  
He ended his silence finally. "No.... they annoyed me....all that hair pulling... I'm sorry. I just didn't mean to get mad so easily..."  
  
Xy chuckled. "It's alright. No need to apologize. They make everyone mad, anyways."  
  
"Heh. It was pretty horrible though....I thought they were just joking...but I was wrong..."  
  
"I DID tell you what they were doing."  
  
"Well, I thought that was a joke too. I mean, how could they like me? I'm a curse for God's sake..."  
  
Xy sighed, getting up from the chair and sitting next to Arson on the bed. "You know it's not. You've gotta stop putting yourself down. Come on man, cheer up! You've gotta be the most depressing person I've ever met." She stuck her tongue out at him, smiling. He just sighed and lowered his head. She moved back behind him, and draped her arms around him, hugging him from behind.  
  
He grinned mischievously and looked back at her. "Hey Xy, you never did answer my question!"  
  
She blushed lightly again, but got the courage to say it this time. "We should. I mean....I want us to be together...I guess..." Xy scratched the back of her head. She was surprised to see that Arson was looking at her in bewilderment.  
  
"You don't hate me? After everything I've told you? Despite being a demon?"  
  
"Hell no! Why would I? I mean...the demon part is sorta unbelievable....but we have been through a lot. And I mean A LOT. Why would I hate you just 'cause you're a little bit....ah....different?"  
  
"...and even despite my past?"  
  
Xy nodded, and smiled when Arson nuzzled against her a little. But then he stiffened, his eyes becoming large.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing....please excuse me..." He got up and raced to the bathroom. Xy chuckled as she sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Man....he's a weird one..."  
  
Arson hunched over in the bathroom, shivering, but sweating at the same time. White flashes of pain shot through his body. He looked at the door nervously as he heard Xy walking around in her room.  
  
Xy nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a bottle crash onto the floor tiles of the bathroom. She nearly ran to the bathroom door and knocked hard. "Arson, you okay?" She jumped again as he let out a screech of pain and sent another bottle crashing. She hoped he wasn't naked, and swung the door open. "Arson?"  
  
He cried out again as feathery white wings shot out of his back, unfurling themselves and causing his shirt to get ripped to shreds in the process. He calmed down, breathing heavily, as the pain died away. Sunlight seeped in through the one window, hitting the wings and making them seem brighter and even unreal. As you can guess, Xy was paralyzed. She wasn't sure what to do. The demon thing was easy for her to accept, (having become one and all) but ANGELS too? She wasn't the most religious person in the world but this was a blow to the head. She was concerned about that obvious pain he had felt, but was hesitant to get close.  
  
She barely uttered a small, "...woah..." she was so surprised. Arson looked up her face, his eyes wide and looking frightened. He tried desperately to fold the wings up, but they seem to have a mind of their own and instead spread out fully, taking up the whole bathroom and displaying the awesome beauty they held. The sunlight that hit Arson seemed to make him the replica of a statue of an angel. Xy backed up a step, unsure as to whether she actually wanted to touch the wings. She didn't know what these feelings were, but the way he looked so holy made her feel like she wasn't supposed to see him, like he was forbidden to human eyes. She shook her head. 'Am I going crazy?'  
  
Before she could think much on the matter, Arson stood up, carefully, as not to hurt himself more. He looked closely into Xy's eyes and hesitantly reached out to her. She didn't - and maybe couldn't - move. "What....happened to you?"  
  
"Sshh....come on Xy....this is perfectly normal....honestly..."  
  
"How can those things be considered normal? You a freakin' ANGEL for crying out loud!"  
  
He winced at the tone of her voice - her disbelief - and nodded, his now golden-streaked brown hair flopping into his eyes. "Xy...there's something I didn't tell you...I'm....I'm...half angel too...." Xy sorta had already guessed that, but held back a retort. She still couldn't believe it - an angel AND a demon? That was crazy. Everything had gone insane. The fact that she was actually looking at something - someone - that couldn't possibly exist was unnerving. Arson saw her confusing and hugged her close, sitting himself and her on the floor with her in his lap.  
  
"I know it's unbelievable.....but it's true...."  
  
"But...why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"Well....I didn't want to scare you off or anything. I mean...I didn't think you believed the demon thing - or at least you didn't act like it - so how would you believe I was half angel too?"  
  
"I guess you're right....I don't think I would have."  
  
Arson gently rubbed her back, unsure what to say next. "I'm sorry....I really am..."  
  
"For what?" she asked, looking up at him.  
  
He looked back at the wings. "For all this....You see? I'm a freak..."  
  
Xy giggled, and Arson looked surprised. "You're not a freak, you just caught me by surprise there." She hugged him tight, being careful of the wings. "Besides....I think they're cool." He looked at doubtfully, and then tried a smile. His wings folded over them both, acting like some sorta blanket. Arson rested his head against the tiled wall, looking content.  
  
"You know Xy....you really are great..... I mean.... anyone else probably would've called a priest onto me to try to banish me to Hell or something....but not you...."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh at that. "You know that sounds really stupid, right?"  
  
"Yeah, but..." he suddenly froze again, stopping in mid-sentence.  
  
Xy looked concerned. "What?"  
  
"I feel something.....a very powerful presence."  
  
"Dante, maybe?"  
  
"No......this one is different.... I think... I think it's Mundus." he confirmed, his face becoming serious. Xy gaped for a moment, but closed her eyes and leaned against Arson's chest. She couldn't believe this was all happening. She was lost in confusion. How the hell could he be in her world? He was so powerful.....who knew what he could do. But since Dante and Arson had come home with her - and they were real, real bleeding, breathing beings - she knew it was really him. Who else? Xy held on tight to Arson, feeling all of his muscles becoming tense.  
  
'As long as I'm with him.....I'll be fine.' 


	19. Chapter 19

{{Authoress' Note : 'Ello again people. I'm finally updating after too long. Even though I think this chapter sucks like whoa, I tried, and I hope you enjoi it anyways. I'm just hoping everyone understands what's going on. I'm always afraid I'll confuzzle my readers.}}  
  
Chapter 19 : Just A Friendly Duel  
  
The sun had sunk below the horizon. Darkness had enveloped the whole city. There hadn't been any dusk – it had just suddenly become completely dark. Dante looked out the window with a grin determination. The sky was empty. There were no clouds, no stars, no birds or bats. A full moon was all one could see in the sky. Its luminescent light palely lit up the streets.  
  
Strangely enough, there were no streetlights on either. It as if everyone hadn't realized day had suddenly disappeared.  
  
Dante could sense a supernatural power on the wind. Something he had become familiar to, after being in the castle on Mallet Island. It was Mundus, of course. The air almost literally sparked with his power. Dante figured Arson could sense it strongly too.  
  
Now he didn't claim to know much about was going on since Xy had showed up, but he knew a demon king when he felt it. From the time he had somehow ended up in this new "world", he could immediately tell it was nothing like where he had come from. But something was on the rise. Maybe these two "worlds" were merging?  
  
He smiled lightly. Xy probably thought he was as clueless as a bottle of mustard. He understood lightly as to what was happening. He was in a world where he obviously didn't exist in reality. While watching T.V., he had seen a commercial for a game called "Devil May Cry". Granted, it had surprised him when he had seen his face on T.V., (not nearly as handsome as the real thing he thought smugly) but he had always known something was up. So in Xy's world he was a fictional character. Fine. He could deal with that.  
  
He wasn't much into that whole "Am I real or not?" crap anyways. He was alive, breathing, and he bled as much as the next guy. In his book that made him real. Besides, he didn't have time to question alternate dimensions and all that scientific stuff. He had a job to do, and damned if he wasn't going to do it. Mundus better hold onto his boxers, because Dante was coming.  
  
As soon as he learned how to get the hell back to his world.....

The red light made everything blood red. It reflected on every surface, painting the bathroom crimson. It all came from the tiniest source – Xy's ring. It was getting brighter and brighter with every minute.  
  
Xy looked at it and frowned. Rings were not supposed to give off their own light. Well, this ring was supposed to be "magical" and all that fairytale crap, so maybe this particular ring was an exception.  
  
When it had started glowing, Arson's wings had disappeared, as if the light had chased them off. Judging by the weird stuff that had been happening every second, Xy supposed they were connected somehow.  
  
"I don't think this is good." Xy said, spinning the ring around her finger. It made the light spin around like a lighthouse. Before Arson had time to comment, the room erupted into a blinding flood of red light. Both Xy and Arson wrenched their eyes shut, trying to shut out the light. A great gust of wind seemed to appear in the room, making a roaring ring in their ears. Before they had both gone deaf with the noise, it all had stopped. The 'Demon's Blood' ring had stopped glowing, as Xy found out after she opened her eyes.  
  
Her head was still on his chest, and she could hear his heart pounding loudly and his short intake of breath when he had opened his eyes.  
  
Somehow, they had found themselves back at Mallet Island.  
  
"Well...shit." Xy said, her voice echoing throughout the deserted stone hallway.  
  
"Jeez. First he sends us away, and now he brings us back. That Mundus sure needs to make up his mind already." A voice said behind Xy said. She turned and smiled.  
  
"Hey Maria!" She stopped for a second and frowned. "Where've you been all this time?"  
  
"Just galloping across the country looking for everyone else." Maria looked at Arson and chuckled. "I'm not sure I want to know what you've been up to."  
  
"Very funny." Xy said, blushing.  
  
Arson grinned, remembering his ripped shirt, but then turned serious. "If you're here, then Dante should be here too?" He made it a question.  
  
Maria nodded. "We probably all got our butts dragged back here. Alca should be somewhere too."  
  
Xy got up and looked around. White marble encased the room, even the floor. High windows let streams of light in, lighting the whole chamber. She noticed that her sword had somehow appeared back on her back. She noticed Maria had one too. Arson's were probably still hidden. 'Maybe Mundus wanted to give us a fair chance?' she pondered. She didn't have time to wonder more on it though, because Arson had pointed to the far end of the room and asked, "What's that?"  
  
Maria and Xy both looked and then wished they hadn't. The gigantic statue of Mundus was looking down at them, and smiling.  
  
"Mundus...oh crap.... not good...." Xy said. Maria frowned at it and remembered her previous encounter with the stone god. She had to keep him fooled...  
  
She sighed and slipped out her sword that had been sheathed to her back. It was a smooth katana, just as Alca's had been. The handle was wrapped in some kind of cloth, which was a crimson red. She made her way to where Xyphos stood at an unbelievable speed.  
  
"Hey Maria," she said, turning her attention back to her friend, "what do you – Ow!" She felt a sharp pain as blood flowed down her arm. "Shit, man!" Xy looked up to see Maria, holding the sword pointed right at her. "What the hell's wrong with you?"  
  
Maria ran by again, cutting Xy's other arm, making both of them bleed. This time, it really hurt, and Xy was getting pissed. She looked up at Maria with a look that was both hurt and angry. Arson had made a move to check to see if Xy was all right, but she shrugged him off. "I don't know what the hell's wrong with you, but I'm not just gonna stand here and let you cut me up. I know Maria wouldn't do this.... so you can't be her!"  
  
Xy unsheathed her sword, and made a charge towards Maria. Maria blocked it easily, and the two became locked together, driving their sword against the other's. Small sparks emerged from the friction of the two swords. In the background, Arson was yelling for them to stop, but they both ignored it. Xy had been shocked by Maria's sudden uncalled for attack, but was glad her instincts had reacted. Wouldn't have been smart to just stand there and let her friend slice her to pieces.  
  
Maria smiled, and spared a quick glance towards the statue of Mundus.  
  
Xy was frowning at her former friend, trying to ponder the situation. "So it's the old cliché of best friend turning against best friend, eh? Some things never get old."  
  
"No, you're wrong," Maria said, glancing again at the god. "It's the old cliché of best friend tricking bad guy into thinking she's trying to kill her best friend." Maria jumped back, circling Xy with her sword in front of her, leaving Xy to evaluate the words.  
  
She smiled. "Ah." She glanced at the statue just as Maria had. "I get it." She twirled toward Maria with a slice that was inches away from Maria's legs. "How long will this last?" she whispered as nonchalantly as she could.  
  
Maria made a stab towards Xy, also missing by inches, intentionally. "Until Dante and Alca get here."  
  
"Let's make it showy, then." Xy said, grinning. She made a fake-out to the left and came up on Maria's right, slicing air beside her head. Maria made a comeback by jabbing the sword right behind Xy's back, barely missing her. They began circling at each other again, biding their time. Xy stopped for a millisecond as she felt something, a power, but went back to the 'fight'. 


End file.
